Author Archive
Ben Harper Grabs Ringo Starr, Jackson Browne for New Relentless7 Album
March 23rd, 2010
Photo: Thomas/FilmMagic
Ben Harper and Relentless7 have just finished recording their follow-up to 2009’s White Lies For Dark Times. Titled Give Till It’s Gone, the self-produced album will be out in the fall and features some high-profile guests. “Not only are we excited about the songs, but Ringo Starr is playing on one of the songs and that’s just a huge deal for us. And Jackson Browne is singing in the background of one of the ...
INXS Recruit Brandon Flowers, Ben Harper to Cover Their Big Hits
February 24th, 2010
For their first album in five years, INXS are “reimagining” their classic hits with different arrangements and singers, including Ben Harper, Rob Thomas and the Killers’ Brandon Flowers. The still-untitled release is slated for the fall.
” ‘Original Sin’ with Rob Thomas almost has a Cuban connection with some Spanish rap in it. That was really exciting,” drummer Jon Farris tells Rolling Stone, adding that Thomas also recorded a version of “Never Tear Us Apart.” He ...
White Stripes Offer Rare Look Behind the Scenes in “Under Great White Northern Lights”
September 24th, 2009
Photo: Gemnich/WireImage
The new documentary The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights reveals as much about Canadian culture as it does about Jack and Meg White’s friendship, work ethic and music. The duo eat raw caribou, meet tribal elders, walk along frozen tundra, don traditional kilts and fire a canon — all while touring unconventional places in the summer of 2007 as director Emmett Malloy captured the experience for his film, which debuted at the ...
Iggy Pop, Henry Rollins Talk Rock & Roll Vampire Film “Suck”
September 23rd, 2009
Photo: Rafy
Suck has the potential to become a cult classic like The Rocky Horror Picture Show with one-liners that beg communal recitation. But Canadian director/writer Rob Stefaniuk told Rolling Stone the campy comedy — which stars Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Moby, Henry Rollins and Burning Brides’ Dimitri Coats — wasn’t exactly an easy sell. “It took me five years to make this movie because it’s kind of weird — a Canadian vampire movie with rock ...
Mariah Carey’s Hardest “Precious” Challenge: Going With No Makeup
September 18th, 2009
Photo: Loccisano/Getty
Mariah Carey has a sense of humor about the role she took on in the movie Precious: Based On The Novel “Push” By Sapphire, even though her character and the story itself — about an abused, downtrodden teen — is anything but funny. As welfare caseworker Ms. Weiss, the global superstar appears in dowdy clothes without a stitch of makeup or false eyelashes — not that she didn’t try.
“You can thank Mr. [Lee] ...
“Precious” Director on Bringing Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz to the Big Screen
September 17th, 2009
Photo: Vespa/WireImage
By the time Mariah Carey appears in a pivotal scene in the movie Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” By Sapphire, it’s easy to forget she’s a glamorous chart-topper with flawless makeup and designer tastes. As tears well up in her unadorned eyes onscreen, she is transformed into welfare case worker Ms. Weiss. Lenny Kravitz’s role in the film is not as much of a stretch. He plays Nurse John, a charming rock ...
Behind “Neil Young Trunk Show”: Director Demme on Capturing a Legend in New Film
September 16th, 2009
Photo: Larry Cragg
Neil Young Trunk Show, the second in Jonathan Demme’s planned film trilogy on the legendary rocker, is an unconscious, raw, in-the-moment concert movie that respects the immediacy of creativity and the creator. Partway through the follow-up to the 2006 doc Heart of Gold, Young launches into “No Hidden Path” and 20 blistering minutes later he ends. The “scene” draws you in as much as any high-speed car chase in an action thriller. “It’s ...
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 ...