Archive: March 2010 (21-30 of 106)

Mar 24 2010 05:08 PM ET

Rock photographer Jim Marshall dies at 74

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Categories: In Memoriam, Jim Marshall

Jim-MarshallImage Credit: Ralph Ackerman/Getty ImagesNoted photographer Jim Marshall, whose lens captured decades of rock history, died today at age 74, according to the Morrison Hotel Gallery. Marshall — who was also an EW contributor — was responsible for countless indelible images of rock legends. His website is full of instantly recognizable snapshots: Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar aflame at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Johnny Cash directing a rude gesture toward the camera at San Quentin Prison in 1969. The Beatles taking the stage at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park for their last-ever tour date in 1966. Bob Dylan chasing a tire down a city street in 1963. Ray Charles in mid-shout. Janis Joplin clutching a fifth of Southern Comfort and grinning in 1968. Jim Morrison taking a drag on a cigarette in 1968. Miles Davis on the ropes at a boxing ring in 1971. And so many more.

Marshall (pictured above) was to have participated in a conversation with fellow photographer Timothy White at designer John Varvatos’ NYC store tonight. Instead, a Varvatos rep says photographer Danny Clinch will present an early preview from a documentary about Marshall that he has been working on.

Marshall will be greatly missed. The Music Mix extends its condolences to those who knew and worked with him.

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

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Broken Social Scene: Hear two awesome new songs from Forgiveness Rock Record
Alex Chilton remembered as Big Star SXSW showcase becomes joyous tribute
Freddie Gibbs: Talking with SXSW’s rap breakout
Alex Chilton: Friends, bandmates remember the late Big Star singer at SXSW panel

Mar 24 2010 12:22 PM ET

The Madonna-themed 'Glee' EP: Truly Madge-ical?

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Categories: Glee, Madonna, Misc., Soundtracks, Television

madonna_gleeImage Credit: Glee: Carin Baer/FOX; Madonna: Sylvain Gaboury/PRThe holy alliance more than five months in the making has finally arrived: Glee‘s Madgesty-themed mini-album, The Power of Madonna will hit stores April 20, like a show-choir meteor (or should we say, lucky star).

The task of cherrypicking seven tracks from La Ciccone’s massive catalog is a bit of a shuffle-button Sophie’s Choice; but did they choose wisely? See the tracklisting after the jump:

READ FULL STORY »

Mar 24 2010 12:05 PM ET

Lady Antebellum returns to top the albums chart, followed closely by Marvin Sapp

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Categories: Charts, Lady Antebellum, Ludacris

lady_antebellumLady Antebellum were knocked off of the Billboard 200 throne last week, but not for long. The country trio’s Need You Now hopped right back to No. 1 on the album sales chart this week after selling a healthy 93,000 copies in week eight, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Ludacris, the guy who had unseated Lady A, fell back to No. 3 after moving 61,000 units of his Battle of the Sexes in his second week.

In between those two was gospel singer Marvin Sapp, who sold a nice 76,000 copies of his latest, Here I Am. Where he is: No. 2 on the Billboard 200. According to the publication, that’s higher than any gospel artist has reached in its half-century history.

No. 4 went to The Edge, a 2-CD roundup of “the hugest rock hits of the new millennium” — meat-and-potatoes radio smashes from the likes of Evanescence, Puddle of Mudd, Hoobastank, Korn, P.O.D., and more. Are we really nostalgic for this stuff already? Apparently 53,000 members of the record-buying public are. I hope they’ll pardon my snark.

Down at No. 11 we find the White Stripes with their live CD/DVD set Under the Great White Northern Lights. According to EW’s Stripes expert Whitney Pastorek, “If [this] is their last hurrah, it’s one hell of a good-bye.” About 29,000 fans agreed.

That was it for Top 20 Billboard 200 entries this week. Were you surprised by how high or low anyone placed? How much do you think Justin Bieber’s My World 2.0 will have sold when it shows up next week? Sound off in the comments below.

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

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Ludacris battles to the top of the charts
Broken Social Scene: Hear two awesome new songs from Forgiveness Rock Record
Alex Chilton remembered as Big Star SXSW showcase becomes joyous tribute
Freddie Gibbs: Talking with SXSW’s rap breakout
Alex Chilton: Friends, bandmates remember the late Big Star singer at SXSW panel

Mar 24 2010 11:35 AM ET

Newport Folk Festival 2010 lineup announced: Steve Martin, Swell Season, Jim James, Levon Helm, Brandi Carlile, Sharon Jones, and tons more

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Categories: Andrew Bird, Festivals, Levon Helm, My Morning Jacket, Sharon Jones, The Swell Season

The lineup for the 51st annual Newport Folk Festival was just announced, and it’s a good one. Folk fans who head to Newport, R.I. this July 30-31 and Aug. 1 will get to see acts like Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin), playing banjo with bluegrass quintet the Steep Canyon Rangers; Once duo the Swell Season; the Band’s Levon Helm, bringing his legendary Midnight Ramble on the road; Yim Yames, a.k.a. frontman Jim James of My Morning Jacket; Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, who killed it per usual at SXSW last week; alt-country wailer Brandi Carlile, who just released a cool new video; Richie Havens, who is as awesome today as he was at Woodstock 41 years ago; skilled whistler Andrew Bird; Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, who is Pete Seeger’s grandson and a talented singer in his own right; and lots more folkies old and young.

Click through to the jump for all the performers who have been announced so far for George Wein’s Newport Folk Festival. Tickets go on sale at newportfolkfest.net this Friday, March 26. Will you be buying ‘em?
READ FULL STORY »

Mar 23 2010 03:27 PM ET

Broken Social Scene: Hear two awesome new songs from 'Forgiveness Rock Record'

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Categories: Broken Social Scene, Downloads and Streams, Things That Are Awesome, Things That Are Canadian

Broken Social Scene‘s headlining set last Thursday in the open-air backyard of Stubb’s was one of the most fun concerts I saw at this year’s SXSW. The Toronto indie rockers were even tighter and more exuberant when I caught part of their set the following night at the Parish, a much more intimate club space. Suffice it to say their Forgiveness Rock Record, out May 4, has shot to the top of my 2010 anticipation list.

The band already released the excellent “World Sick” as a free MP3; now they’ve posted two more new tunes, which you can stream right here. “Forced to Love” pairs earnest lyrics with a twisty guitar jam that sounds like it’s about to fly to pieces at any moment, not far from the mode of BSS’ previous, fantastic album. “All to All” is more of a departure, and I like it even better: Stuttering drum machines and string-section sighs are the backdrop for newly official band member Lisa Lobsinger’s magnificently searching vocals. Just wonderful.

Check out Broken Social Scene’s new songs after the jump and let us know if you’re looking forward to Forgiveness Rock Record as much as I am.

READ FULL STORY »

Mar 23 2010 02:15 PM ET

Mariah Carey: 'Angels Advocate' remix album cancelled

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Categories: Mariah Carey, Release Date

Mariah-CareyImage Credit: Bill Davila/startraksphoto.comMariah Carey’s label tells the Music Mix that the rumors are true: Angels Advocate, the remix set that the diva was planning to drop next Tuesday, will no longer be released as an album. Multiple singles (“Up Out My Face” featuring Nicki Minaj, “Angels Cry” featuring Ne-Yo) have already surfaced from the project, which was to have paired Carey with new collaborators on reworked tunes from last fall’s Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. Now Island Def Jam’s plan is to continue putting out that new material as stand-alone singles instead of packaging it together into a full-length CD as originally intended. “We’ve released a few of Mariah’s hot remixes from Memoirs on iTunes and Mariah’s back in the studio working on some new surprises,” says a label rep. Angels Advocate was previously delayed to this month from a late February release date.

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

More from EW.com’s Music Mix:
Perez Hilton on why he hates Ke$ha
Perez Hilton brings Snoop Dogg and more to his wild SXSW party
Alex Chilton remembered as Big Star SXSW showcase becomes joyous tribute
Freddie Gibbs: Talking with SXSW’s rap breakout
Alex Chilton: Friends, bandmates remember the late Big Star singer at SXSW panel

Mar 22 2010 03:09 PM ET

SXSW Q&A with Kid Meets Cougar, one of the best little bands in Las Vegas

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Categories: Indie Rock, SXSW Festival

kid-meets-cougar_240.jpg Image Credit: Corlene ByrdAnother SXSW has come and gone, and now that we’re all battling post-festival pneumonia, it’s time for one last post. Over the past five days, we brought you coverage of Muse and Smokey Robinson. We battled crowds and climate to see moonlighting Dixie Chicks and surprising visits from Snoop Dogg. We witnessed the returns of Hole and Stone Temple Pilots. But what about the other 2200+ bands playing in Austin without publicists or managers or major label deals?

Kid Meets Cougar is a lo-fi, high-tech duo from Las Vegas, with no publicist or manager or label deal. They drove to Austin in their 1995 GMC Safari conversion van, nicknamed “Yo Yo Ma,” which features a teal carpeted and wood paneled interior, complete with VHS player. They arrived in town with no badges or wristbands, and only one show to play. When I sat down with Courtney Carroll, 29, and Brett Bolton, 23, on Saturday and offered to buy them a drink, they opted to split a Guinness. They are, in a word, adorable.

You can visit Kid Meets Cougar on the web at www.kidmeetscougar.com, where you can stream their debut album, For Breakfast, in its entirety. I’ve also embedded their video for “Hey Hey” after the Q&A below. The first time I saw it was on a friend’s cell phone. I’d estimate I’ve watched it 40 or so times since. I find it freeing. Viva new music!

Entertainment Weekly: You two seem to be the poster children for the point of SXSW: to discover great bands and give them the chance to gain new opportunities and exposure. Do you think this experience was worth it for you guys?
Brett Bolton: Originally we were just going to come out here and have fun and check it out. But then we got on a showcase at the Palm Door, and then this Epicsauce.com/Neon Reverb show last night. It was awesome. We talked to Kevin from Epicsauce when we got there, and he was like, “Hey, if you want to play inside, there’s a PA in there.” And it was one of the best shows we’ve ever played.
Courtney Carroll: We got to do our own sound!
B: It was a small room. Probably about 50 people inside. It was packed.
C: It had a real house party feel. Everybody was dancing.
B: We had our videos going behind us. We were pretty much given free rein. It was one of the best shows we’ve done. The first couple days we felt kind of like little fish, you know? There’s this many bands, and you’re like, “How can I do anything?”
C: Yeah, how do you even go about it? But last night, there wasn’t anyone who knew we were going to be there.
B: We weren’t promoted at all. And we ended up getting there, playing for a packed room. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 22 2010 02:33 PM ET

Cherie Currie talks about fronting the Runaways, watching Dakota Fanning play her in the movie

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Categories: Buzzworthy, Q&A

Cherie-Currie-RunawaysImage Credit: Janet Mayer/PR Photos

When the Runaways formed in 1975, they were the only all-girl teenage hard rock band on the planet, and the world wasn’t quite ready for them. Decades later, the Runaways are finally getting some of the attention they deserve with the band biopic The Runaways, which stars Dakota Fanning as the 15-year-old lead singer Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart as a very young Joan Jett. The film—which goes into wide release April 9—is based on the recently released book Neon Angel: A Memoir of A Runaway by lead singer Currie and details the band’s short, messy history and the struggle with addiction that nearly claimed her life. Currie sat down with us to talk about  growing up in a rock band, conquering addiction, and the talk generated by the scene in the film where she and Joan Jett kiss.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How much of the movie is taken from your book Neon Angel? Is it mostly your story?
CHERIE CURRIE: Well, it’s Joan and my story, of course. They took a lot of poetic license with the movie. If you read the book, you’ll see things were a little bit different from the movie, but I don’t want to give anything anyway.

And Joan Jett is attached as an executive producer. Are there any Runaways memories you disagree on?
No. She was very supportive of the original book. The new book is a lot more intense, there were a lot of stories I couldn’t tell in a young adults book.

So this book originally came out in 1989 in much different form, as a young-adult book. Why did you decide to go back to it?
That happened in 2000. A friend of mine read it and turned around and said, “Have you ever thought what people are going to think of you when they read this book?” And it shocked me that he would say that…he’s no longer a friend. But I re-read the book and I cried for three days. And then all of a sudden, instead of shutting away from it I decided to add to it. So I started writing. It took me three or four months, and then Kenny Laguna [Joan Jett’s manager] read the book and he thought it was worthy of republication, because you couldn’t find it anywhere. And he started shopping it to publishers and some people became interested in making it into a film, so that’s what happened. READ FULL STORY »

Mar 22 2010 11:39 AM ET

Ben Folds impersonates the Ben Folds ChatRoulette impersonator. But who is funnier?

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Categories: Let's Argue!

Revenge is a dish best served… by singing about total strangers, one of whom is sitting on the toilet? Maybe. Last week, a YouTube clip appeared in which a bespectacled gent named “Merton” ad-libbed songs about the people he encountered on ChatRoulette. Merton so resembled Ben Folds that many viewers believed—incorrectly—that it was indeed the arch songwriter. Now Folds has had his revenge by releasing a clip from his show in Charlotte, N.C., last Friday during which he ad-libs songs about the people he encounters on ChatRoulette while clad in a Merton-esque hoodie (and, this time, Folds’ publicist has confirmed that it is actually him). Confused? You won’t be once you check out the two videos.

Who is the winner of this ChatRoulette duel? Well, I’m going to have to say that Merton’s clip is ever so slightly funnier. But the Music Mix is handing this contest to Folds, as he performed his own hilarious, if at times NSFW, vamps in front of 2,000 people.

Watch the clips after the break, and see if you agree.

READ FULL STORY »

Mar 21 2010 07:27 PM ET

Perez Hilton tells us all about SXSW's worst and best bands, his newest signee, and why he hates Ke$ha

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Categories: Courtney Love, Hole, Ke$ha, Lily Allen, Perez Hilton, Sliimy, SXSW Festival

perez-hiltonImage Credit: Wild1/PR PhotosWith SXSW finished until next year, thousands of music fans are now scattering back home to annoy and/or delight their friends by bragging about all the life-changingly brilliant new artists they discovered in Austin. Most also have a horror story or two about buzz bands that turned out to be more like bust bands in a live setting. Perez Hilton was eager to share the latter type of SXSW tale when I met him backstage before his warehouse party last night. “I saw jj earlier this week,” he said, referring to the woozy Swedish act whose full-length debut inspired countless critical raves last year. “I love their album, and they were awful live…They were embarrassingly bad. It was insulting as an audience member, actually, how little they cared. This girl just sat there, not having any interaction with the crowd, being lethargic. It was disgusting.” Ouch. Sorry, jj.

Surely, not everything Perez saw in Austin this year made him feel such revulsion? “I went to parties, I saw some shows, but everyone that I really wanted to see is performing here tonight [at my party],” the savvy self-promoter said. Oh, okay. I asked Perez to explain why he’d picked some of the artists he did for his third annual SXSW bash. He answered as follows. READ FULL STORY »

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