Archive for August 20th, 2009
Tour Tracker: R. Kelly, Hope Sandoval and Neko Case
August 20th, 2009
Photo: Raglin/GettyR. Kelly knows what cities but not what venues he’ll visit as he attempts to proves he’s “Number One” with a long autumn trek in support of his upcoming Untitled. Plus, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions embark on their first tour in eight years and Neko Case continues to ride her Middle Cyclone across the country. Full dates for all three jaunts, after the jump.
R. Kelly
Oct. 8 - Mashantucket, CT
Oct. 9 - Boston, ...
Wolfmother’s Stockdale Rocks Pair of “Cosmic Egg” Tracks Acoustic
August 20th, 2009
Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale recently stopped by the Rolling Stone studios to perform acoustic renditions of a pair of songs that’ll appear on the band’s second album Cosmic Egg, and stripped of their prog-metal backgrounds, Stockdale’s songwriting and melodies shine through. In our studio, Stockdale busted out “In the Castle” — which he improvised on acoustic guitar on the spot in the video above — and the multi-suite “In the Morning.” Watch the performance and ...
Avril Lavigne Strips Down Sound for Introspective November LP
August 20th, 2009
Photo: Jennifer Rocholl
Rolling Stone hits the studio with Avril Lavigne, who’s hooking up musically with husband Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 on her next disc, for a progress report in our new issue. The big news: Lavigne isn’t looking to repeat the success of 2007’s smash single “Girlfriend,” nor is she looking to maintain her status as punk-pop’s snotty princess. On the as-yet-untitled November disc, Lavigne says she’s aiming for a more introspective sound ...
Harper Simon, Salvador Santana Channel Famous Dads on New LPs
August 20th, 2009
A pair of guys with some excellent genes are ready to release fresh music this fall. Check out the news on Paul Simon’s son Harper and Carlos Santana’s son Salvador below. And peruse more famous rock offspring here.
If Elliott Smith fronted an alt-country group, it’d sound a lot like Harper Simon, the son of Paul Simon. On his self-titled debut album (out October 13th), 36-year-old Simon surrounds himself with an ace team of backing musicians ...
Green Day’s “American Idiot” Musical: Meet the Rocker Cast
August 20th, 2009
Photo: Carole Litwin
The American Idiot musical is set to begin previews on September 4th in Berkeley, California, and prep for the Green Day-inspired production is kicking into high gear: tickets for the limited run (scheduled through October 11th) are selling quickly, the Berkeley Repertory Theatre blogged a sneak peek at the show’s stage (revealing the set required extra support to accommodate its size and its massive walls will be covered in rock posters) and the ...
Hype Monitor: Baroness, Alberta Cross, Pride Parade
August 20th, 2009
Photo: GL Johnson
The Band: Baroness
The Buzz: Georgia metal band combines complicated song structures with blistering riffs and ragged-throated vocals, for music that’s both challenging and aggressive. They’ve helpfully color-coded their records for newcomers: their debut was called The Red Album; the album they’ve got coming out in October is called The Blue Record. Perhaps it’s no great surprise that vocalist John Baizley has a side career as an artist.
Listen If: You’d be amenable to prog ...
Jay-Z, Rihanna, Kanye West’s Dark “Run This Town” Video Debuts
August 20th, 2009
Photo: Walker/Getty
The video for Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 single “Run This Town” wasn’t supposed to premiere on MTV until tonight, but since this is 2009 and premiere and release dates mean next to nothing, the video leaked out yesterday (MTV Germany reportedly jumped the gun, according to Nah Right). Thankfully, MTV pushed up the video’s debut, giving us a higher-quality view of the post-apocalyptic world occupied by Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West that was envisioned ...
Diddy Returns to Reality TV to Find the Next Big Thing on “StarMaker”
August 20th, 2009
Photo: Canham/Getty
A star is not born, believes Diddy. A star is made and nurtured. On his latest MTV reality show, P. Diddy’s StarMaker, 14 singing hopefuls are coached, developed, tested and assessed — and they get to watch each other’s star qualities emerge as they live in the same house. It’s kind of like American Idol meets The Real World with drama to spare.
“Out of the 14, you have at least two or three that ...
U2 Talk “Spider-Man” Musical’s New Villain, Slacker Peter Parker
August 20th, 2009
Photo: Martindale/FilmMagic
“We’ve got big tunes. We’re very proud of it,” U2’s Bono says of the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark musical he co-wrote with the Edge. Despite reports that the cash-strapped Broadway show has shut down production, the duo spoke to the BBC about the Julie Taymor-directed musical dedicated to the legendary Marvel superhero, which currently is still planned to debut in February 2010. “Our Peter Parker is much more… not Kurt Cobain, but a ...
Disney, Zemeckis Plot Remake of the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”
August 20th, 2009
The director of Back to the Future is going back to Beatlemania for his next film. Robert Zemeckis and Disney are hoping to remake the Beatles‘ 1968 animated classic Yellow Submarine, Variety reports. Zemeckis and Disney are reportedly brokering a deal that would give them access to the original film’s 16-song soundtrack. Just as the 1968 Submarine was ahead of its time from an animation standpoint, Zemeckis hopes to employ his revolutionary performance-capture 3-D digital ...