Archive for July 22nd, 2009
The Fray Unplugged: Watch “You Found Me,” “Say When” and More
July 22nd, 2009
Denver, Colorado’s the Fray recently stopped by the Rolling Stone studios in New York with acoustic instruments in hand to play a few tracks off their chart-topping second album The Fray. Up top, the Mile High quartet perform an intimate take on their recent hit “You Found Me,” which topped over 2 million digital downloads. The Fray also treated our cameras played an unplugged version of their self-titled’s “Say When,” and frontman Isaac Slade wrapped ...
Rob Thomas’ Unusual Journey: Unapologetic Pop Star Opens Up
July 22nd, 2009
Photo: Andrew MacPheresonThere are lots of things you likely don’t know about Matchbox Twenty and solo singer Rob Thomas — that he survived a violent redneck childhood, that his weed-dealer grandmother hired a serial killer to off an ex-boyfriend, that he thinks Third Eyed Blind’s Stephan Jenkins is “really just a cock.” As Thomas releases new solo LP Cradlesong, Erik Hedegaard gets one music’s bona fide pop stars to peel back his mellow nice-guy exterior ...
Tour Tracker: Hanson, The Raveonettes and Mew
July 22nd, 2009
Photo:Mainz/Getty
The brothers Hanson embark on an autumn trek with HelloGoodbye in tow, the Raveonettes veer In & Out of Control as they introduce audiences to their upcoming album and Mew line up dates opening on the Nine Inch Nails “Wave Goodbye” tour. The dates for all artists await, after the jump.
Hanson
Sept. 30 - Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
Oct. 1 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
Oct. 2 - Kansas City, MO @ Beaumont ...
New Music Report: Jordin Sparks, Plus Japandroids
July 22nd, 2009
Kevin O’Donnell takes a close-up look at the week’s biggest release — Jordin Sparks’ Battlefield — in this week’s New Music Report. On her second full-length, the American Idol winner returns with a set of stadium set anthems and electro-pop songs, including “S.O.S.,” which sounds a touch like Lady Gaga. While there’s no true standout on Battlefield akin to her last album’s hit “No Air,” in the end, Sparks shows her strong pipes are as ...
Jay-Z’s “Blueprint 3 ” To Feature Rihanna, Drake, MGMT
July 22nd, 2009
Photo: Raglin/WireImageJay-Z divulged some more details about his upcoming Blueprint 3, telling Reuters that Rihanna, Drake, Mr Hudson and Kid Cudi will be among the artists featuring on his third installment in the Blueprint series. As Rolling Stone reveals in our new issue’s in the studio story on MGMT, the electro-pop duo will also lend their talents to a track off Blueprint 3. Absent from the guest list is Jigga’s wife Beyoncé, though the rapper ...
Fricke’s Picks: The Soft Machinist
July 22nd, 2009
Bassist Hugh Hopper — who died on June 7th in England at age 64 — was a quietly central figure in British progressive rock: a member of Sixties Canterbury legends the Wilde Flowers and a roadie for Soft Machine, before joining them as a member in 1968, just as the Softs’ dadaistic rock mutated into an original fusion of jazz freedom and rock force, pivotally on the 1970 double LP Third and 1971’s Fourth (both ...
Michael Jackson’s Unrealized Dream: Career in the Film Industry
July 22nd, 2009
Photo: Shearer/AEG/Concerts West via Getty
Michael Jackson had an itch to get into the movie business, Claire Hoffman reports in the new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands today. When Jackson began talking about staging a grand comeback with Randy Phillips, CEO of AEG Live (the company that ended up promoting Jackson’s This Is It concerts), the King of Pop wasn’t just focused on making an album and hitting the stage: he also wanted to ...
Breaking: Maylene and the Sons of Disaster
July 22nd, 2009
Who: Birmingham, Alabama’s Maylene and the Sons of Disaster come by their thunderous, southern-fried hard rock honestly. Frontman Dallas Taylor honed his roar with Christian metalcore outfit Underoath before splitting with that band in 2003. Noting he was “ready for a change,” the singer left his hometown of Ocala, Florida, and headed to Birmingham, where a chance hang at his roommate’s band practice planted the seeds for MATSOD. “I didn’t think I’d pay music for ...
Michael Jackson Doctor’s Houston Offices Raided By Law Officials
July 22nd, 2009
Federal drug agents raided the Houston offices of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician and the last man to see the singer alive, after preliminary results of Jackson’s autopsy suggested cause of death was likely connected to the drug Propofol, ABC News reports. Over two dozen officials, ranging from DEA agents to Los Angeles investigators to Houston police officers, were involved in the raid of Murray’s office after officials obtained a search warrant today, ...
White Stripes’ Tour Doc Debuts Trailer, Sets Toronto Film Fest Date
July 22nd, 2009
The White Stripes will officially debut their upcoming concert film Under Great White Northern Lights September 18th at the Toronto International Film Festival, the band revealed on their official Website. The Stripes also posted a teaser trailer for the seeming black-and-white film, which shows the duo walking down the docks of a Canadian shore as the trailer boasts “A brother and sister’s journey across the Great White North.” It looks like an old silent film, ...