Archive for July 21st, 2009
Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Rush Join “Guitar Hero 5 ” Lineup
July 21st, 2009
Photo: Foley/FilmMagic
The Smashing Pumpkins, No Doubt, Weezer and Rush are the latest artists to be recruited for Guitar Hero 5 as Activision revealed the another slate of songs featuring on GH5’s 85-song on-disc set list. As evidenced by the previous GH5 announcements, this game’s track list is as eclectic as it gets, with ’70s rockers like Peter Frampton’s “Do You Feel Like We Do” and Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band” rubbing shoulders with ...
New Reviews: Jordin Sparks, Demi Lovato and Daughtry
July 21st, 2009
Photo: Buckner/GettyA pair of young songstresses lead the week’s pack of New Reviews, as Jordin Sparks and Demi Lovato both release their second albums today. Sparks, the former American Idol champion, can’t avoid the dreaded sophomore slump on her new disc Battlefield, which earned a two-and-a-half star review from Rolling Stone’s Christian Hoard. For those keeping track at home, that’s one star less than RS gave her self-titled debut in 2007. Sparks sounds down on ...
Tour Tracker: Kelly Clarkson, Wolfmother, Farm Aid Lineup
July 21st, 2009
Photo: Dionisio/GettyKelly Clarkson has finally unveiled her full slate of fall dates for All I Ever Wanted, with the Veronicas and Parachute supporting. Tickets start going on sale August 15th. Plus, Aussie rockers Wolfmother swing around to our hemisphere to preview October 13th’s Cosmic Egg, and Farm Aid adds Wilco, Jason Mraz, Jamey Johnson and Phosphorescent to October 4th’s Farm Aid, which Rolling Stone reported goes down at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, ...
Watch Raphael Saadiq Perform “Sure Hope You Mean It” From “Live From the Artists Den” DVD
July 21st, 2009
On Raphael Saadiq’s first-ever concert DVD Live From the Artists Den, the neo-soul singer takes fans on a musical journey through his Grammy-nominated catalog. The set was taped on December 3, 2008 at Boston’s storied Harvard Club, which Saadiq says, “has some history and this music has some history, so I think it’s a perfect match.” The performance first aired as part of public television’s weekly series Live From the Artists Den, and now the ...
Pink Floyd’s Gilmour Recalls Jamming to the Moon Landing
July 21st, 2009
Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11’s landing on the moon. If you were alive on July 20, 1969, you were likely doing one of two things: Watching astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic giant leap for mankind, or packing for Woodstock. Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour also watched the lunar landing on July 20th, but recently wrote in The Guardian that he and his bandmates were live-soundtracking the event for the BBC. The resulting ...
Mark McGrath on the Ugly Truth About Sugar Ray (And Why Their New Album Still Rocks)
July 21st, 2009
Sugar Ray are back — but frontman Mark McGrath admits the ’90s pop-rockers never really left. He also reveals, “I never claimed not to be a douche.”
In a hilarious interview with Rolling Stone, McGrath opens up about new album Music For Cougars, which is out today and his time as a TV host on Extra plus some of the band’s more unusual gigs (”If you were at Shrimp Fest or the county fair and ...
Yeah Yeah Yeahs Join Lollapalooza Lineup As Festivals Race to Replace Beastie Boys
July 21st, 2009
Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been added to this year’s Lollapalooza lineup as a replacement for the Beastie Boys, who have been forced to cancel all their tour dates as Adam Yauch (MCA) recovers from Parotid gland cancer. According to the fest’s official Website, Karen O and the It’s Blitz crew will perform in the vacated Saturday night headlining slot, giving fans an alternative to the other headliner on August 8th, Tool. Lollapalooza runs ...
Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Miley Cyrus and Adele Are “VH1 Divas”
July 21st, 2009
Photo: Getty
Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Miley Cyrus and Adele will share the spotlight and microphone on live television as VH1 revives their Divas special after a five-year hiatus on September 17th. This year’s Divas will take place live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Howard Gilman Opera House in Brooklyn, New York, marking the first time in the special’s history that the Divas haven’t assembled in either Manhattan or Las Vegas. Additional special guests and ...
Jackson Browne Settles With GOP Over “Running on Empty” Ad Use
July 21st, 2009
Photo: Winn/Getty
Jackson Browne has settled with the Republican Party after the GOP used the singer’s “Running On Empty” in campaign television ads for presidential candidate John McCain, Billboard reports. Browne, a staunch Democratic who supported Barack Obama throughout the 2008 election, will receive an undisclosed sum of money and a public apology, but more importantly the settlement came with a pledge that the Republicans will “respect and uphold the rights of artists and to obtain ...
Fricke’s Picks: Choir of Young Believers’ Spiritual Awakening
July 21st, 2009
In the Danish band Choir of Young Believers, there are many singers. Half of the near-dozen members on This Is for the White in Your Eyes (Tigerspring), the group’s European debut album, contribute backing vocals. But there is only one Voice: founding songwriter Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, who manages to sound utterly alone — singing in cold echo with the high, keening melancholy of the Zombies’ Colin Blunstone and the Neil Young of “A Man Needs ...