Archive: September 2011 (1-10 of 132)

Sep 30 2011 08:03 PM ET

TV Jukebox: 'Community,' 'The Big C,' and 'The Good Wife' feature our favorite songs on TV this week

by
Filed under: L.A. Reid, Music, TV and tagged: , , , , , , , ,
community

Image Credit: NBC

Hear, hear, TV fans. The Jukebox is back for another week with a selection of the most inventive, emotional, and surprising songs to hit TV screens this week. With another season of The Sing-Off afoot, a cappella was naturally on tap — but we also found an affecting a cappella inclusion in the most unexpected place. Elsewhere, things got naughty on The Good Wife, civil disobedience gave Lionel Richie renewed relevance on Community, and a new show established its place in the moody CW wheelhouse. Check out our picks below! (Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!) READ FULL STORY »

Sep 30 2011 05:21 PM ET

Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull's cameo-packed 'I Like How It Feels' video: Watch it here

by
Filed under: Music and tagged: , , ,

Enrique Iglesias may be 36, but don’t tell him that — he’s still young, brash, and just a little bit reckless in the new video for his whistle-happy single “I Like How It Feels,” which debuted online today.

The clip, directed by Iglesias himself, plays a lot like the intro to an MTV travel series or a Kickstarter campaign clip. It kind of makes you want to windsurf on the Dominican coast while feeding orphans and drinking coconut water, you know?

Strewn throughout the tour footage are glimpses of stars like Serena Williams, Ken Jeong, and Eva Longoria; featured rapper Pitbull also stops by to lay down a verse — and hawk his own vodka brand, of course.

Check out the video below: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 30 2011 04:03 PM ET

The Who's Roger Daltrey says there are no great lead singers anymore. Do you agree?

by
Filed under: Let's Argue!, Music and tagged: , , ,
Roger-Daltrey

Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Roger Daltrey of the Who certainly belongs alongside Robert Plant, Mick Jagger, Ozzy Osbourne, and the like on the Rock Frontmen Mt. Rushmore. So when he comes out and says there aren’t any real lead singers out there any more, we have to at least consider the idea.

In a conversation with the Associated Press, Daltrey dismissed the lot of current singers, especially those who show up on network television. “A lot of the new people they choose on shows like American Idol and things like that — I don’t ever hear lead singers,” Daltrey said. “They always seem to choose to pick people that are great singers, fabulous singers, but they’ve never got the voice that makes a great lead singer.”

Daltrey noted that these younger acts lack the distinction possessed by some of his great peers. “You hear 10 seconds of Rod Stewart, you know it’s Rod Stewart,” he explained. “Ten seconds of Mick Jagger, that’s Mick Jagger. Ten seconds of Eddie Vedder, you know that’s Eddie.” He also allowed that Adele is “the real deal.”

There’s a lot to unpack there, so why don’t we take some time out to watch seven minutes of Daltrey screaming in between David Caruso saying pithy things on CSI: Miami. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 30 2011 02:27 PM ET

Radiohead playing a free show for Wall Street protestors today? Not so fast

by
Filed under: Music and tagged: ,
Radiohead

In case you were not aware, downtown New York has been a little bit hectic for the past two weeks, with protesters swarming the streets of the Financial District to shout against the general greed of the American corporate establishment.

As Jon Stewart noted last night on The Daily Show, it sometimes resembles Bonnaroo, and apparently the organizers of the protest took that to heart, because they announced that Radiohead would be playing a free show for the participants at 4pm this afternoon.

When those rumors first surfaced, it seemed like a bold and potentially dangerous proposition, especially considering that a reported 500,000 people attempted to get tickets for the band’s pair of shows at Roseland Ballroom (which only holds 3,200). As it turns out, the doubts were justified: The band’s publicist confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that they will not in fact be making an appearance downtown this afternoon.

Though they aren’t playing a free show for people fed up with corporate greed, Radiohead have managed to take over New York in the past seven days. They played SNL over the weekend, were the centerpiece of a special episode of The Colbert Report, and blew people away with the above-mentioned shows at Roselan — not too shabby for a week’s trip.

Read more on EW.com:
Radiohead on ‘The Colbert Report’: Way better than Radiohead on SNL?
Radiohead to play ‘historic’ one-hour episode of ‘The Colbert Report,’ two shows at NYC’s Roseland
Review: Radiohead, The King of Limbs

Sep 30 2011 12:35 PM ET

Jennifer Lopez joins Enrique Iglesias for a little 'Mouth 2 Mouth': Listen here!

by
Filed under: Music and tagged: , , , , , , ,
Jennifer-Lopez-Enrique-Iglesias

Image Credit: Tony Duran; Chapman Baehler

Enrique Iglesias has really been on a roll in the singles department.

Coming off the success of last year’s “I Like It,” Iglesias has spent the entirety of 2011 knocking shots out of the park, including the filthy-minded “Tonight,” the Usher-assisted “Dirty Dancer,” and the recently unveiled Pitbull-fueled “I Like How It Feels.”

Just for kicks, he’s pulled the curtain back on “Mouth 2 Mouth,” which is neither a guide to giving CPR to a heart attack victim nor a b-side from Prince’s unpronounceable symbol period. Rather, it’s an elastic, double-groovy duet with Jennifer Lopez (another singer who seems to turn everything she touches to gold this year, Fiat commercials notwithstanding).

The track will appear on Iglesias’ deluxe reissue of his 2010 album Euphoria, helpfully titled Euphoria Reloaded. Give it a spin after the jump.  READ FULL STORY »

Sep 29 2011 09:06 PM ET

Adele releases heartbreaking, beautiful 'Someone Like You' music video: Watch it here

by
Filed under: Music, News and tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Adele’s soaring, cut-yourself-already ballad “Someone Like You” may have recently dipped to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100, but maybe its just released music video — splendid in its simplicity — will help it reclaim the top spot from Maroon 5′s overplayed “Moves Like Jagger.”

The understated, black-and-white clip promoting the song — which you can catch below — is, in a word: quiet. Honestly, it’s just what you’d want to see for this break-up heart-wrencher. Adele spends the nearly five-minute-long video simply walking around Paris, which is somehow fittingly deserted, as she wails through the haunting lyrics.  READ FULL STORY »

Sep 29 2011 04:33 PM ET

Susan Boyle covers Depeche Mode: You like?

by
Filed under: Music and tagged: , ,
Susan-Boyle

Image Credit: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

She’s already covered Velvet Underground god Lou Reed – so why not Depeche Mode?

The Britain’s Got Talent contestant turned global star takes on the dark-rockers’ classic “Enjoy the Silence” on her upcoming third album, Someone to Watch Over Me, out November 1st.

Slowed down to showcase Boyle’s church-choir vocals, the tune seems almost unrecognizable save for those famous lyrics. Perfectly timed orchestra swells add a nice emotional punch to Boyle’s soft delivery.

Listen here and tell us, what do you think?

Is this a good change-up for Boyle? While we’re on the subject, what other leather-pantsed hits would you like to see her cover? Or do you think she should stick with musical-theater showstoppers like “I Dreamed A Dream”?

Read more:
Susan Boyle debuts new single on ‘America’s Got Talent’
Susan Boyle musical lands its star, premiere date
Mariah Carey sings five octaves in just over a minute: Listen here!

Sep 29 2011 04:12 PM ET

Sylvia Robinson, 'The Mother of Hip-Hop,' passes away at age 75

by
Filed under: Music and tagged: ,
Sylvia-Robinson

Image Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Hip hop lost one of its greast this morning when singer and record producer Sylvia Robinson passed away in New Jersey. She was 75 years old.

Robinson was instrumental in the birth of hip-hop in the late ’70s. In 1979, she and her husband co-founded Sugar Hill Records, the label that put out the earliest rap albums and singles from Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, the Funky Four Plus One, and the Treacherous Three.

But her crowning achievement was recruiting Englewood, New Jersey rappers Master Gee, Big Bank Hank, and Wonder Mike to rap over a recording of Chic’s “Good Times.” The resulting single, the newly-anointed Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” was the first rap song to ever make an impact on mainstream music, and let the world know that hip-hop was a viable art form that had the potential to be the far-reaching juggernaut that it is today.

In addition to singing the 1956 soul-pop classic “Love Is Strange” as one half of the duo Mickey & Sylvia (which gained a second wave of popularity in a memorable scene in Dirty Dancing), Robinson also oversaw other seminal rap tracks, most notably Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message,” which moved hip-hop out of the realm of simple party music into something that could reflect the experience of young city life — what Public Enemy Chuck D would later call “the black CNN.” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 29 2011 02:41 PM ET

Mariah Carey sings five octaves in just over a minute: Listen here!

by
Filed under: Music and tagged: , , , , , , , ,
mariah-carey

Image Credit: Markus Klinko & Indrani

It’s no secret that Mariah Carey has range, but that’s just become even more apparent: A clever video has surfaced on YouTube that splices together Mimi singing through what the video claims are five octaves, two notes, and two semitones.

“That’s over 65 keys!!!!” the video says at the end. You knew she could do it, but actually hearing her go from low to high in a cascade — with each note flashing on the screen as it happens, each about one second apart — is pretty stunning.

Through the video, you can identify a variety of Mariah’s songs in the background — everything from her soaring rendition of “O Holy Night” to “Forever” — although a huge portion of it is pulled from her two notable Christmas albums. (Go figure.)

If you don’t already appreciate the range Mariah has, you will after the jump:

READ FULL STORY »

Sep 29 2011 12:19 PM ET

Lady Gaga announces that 'Marry the Night' will be the fifth single off 'Born This Way' -- Do you think it's the best choice?

by
Filed under: Music and tagged: , ,
Lady-Gaga

Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Clear Channel

Paws up! Are you ready to dance? Last night it was announced the fifth single off Lady Gaga’s Born This Way would be fan favorite “Marry The Night.”

A release date hasn’t been set, but power piano ballad “Yoü And I“ is still in the Top 10, so it would make sense for her to wait a bit before officially putting “Marry The Night” out to radio. Then again, when has Gaga ever taken the conventional approach?

With the typical pop tracks from Born This Way already released — “Judas” and “Edge of Glory” — as well as her title anthem, it’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the album holds up on radio. Born This Way as a whole is lot less get-this-party-started than The Fame or The Fame Monster, and many tracks are more piano and electronic-driven, which doesn’t necessarily translate to Top 40.

Interestingly, “Marry The Night” was supposed to be the third single, coming out right when the album dropped in May. But Monster obsession with sneak previews of “Edge of Glory” changed Gaga’s mind.

I’m personally not crazy about the song (I was hoping the conventional-but-fun “Hair” or melodic and eerie “Bloody Mary” would make the cut), but this ode to NYC is probably her best option if she wants to release a club track.

And it may be half in German, but I still have my monster paws crossed for “Scheiße,” her high-heeled-and-blonde ode to feminism.

Take a listen to “Marry The Night” below: READ FULL STORY »

Advertisement

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP