music

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Rihanna's Rated R a Dark Treat
 Rihanna's 
 Rated R 
 a Dark Treat 
music review
Nov 20, 2009 5:41 PM CST

Rihanna's Rated R a Dark Treat

Singer channels tumultuous year into great music

(Newser) - Rihanna's been through a lot since she released her last album, and the excellent Rated R is all the better for it, writes Greg Kot. After the much-publicized Chris Brown incident, her music has become darker and more serious than the airy pop of "Umbrella" and "SOS."...

Wake Up: Radiohead Kinda Sucks

Thom Yorke doesn't care if you like him, and honestly, you shouldn't

(Newser) - We all listen to them, grin plastered on our face, blocking out “that guilty nagging feeling that actually, in some ways, when you think about it… Radiohead kinda blow.” Everyone’s convinced Radiohead defines the cutting edge, but Chris Norris of Spin isn’t fooled. Go to one...

Pirate Radio Rocks on Good Tunes, Cast
 Pirate Radio Rocks 
 on Good Tunes, Cast 
MOVIE REVIEW
Nov 13, 2009 8:56 AM CST

Pirate Radio Rocks on Good Tunes, Cast

Playful 60s love/music comedy is more party than plot

(Newser) - Critics agree that the soundtrack of Pirate Radio can't be beat, and the top-notch cast is a joy. So when it comes to the shaky plot and pacing, some can turn a blind eye:
  • "There’s no denying the comic energy of the cast," Peter Travers writes in
...

Best Buy, Dr. Dre Woo Would-Be DJs

'Club Beats' area will offer pro gear to budding novices

(Newser) - Best Buy is hoping the fascination with sound quality and all things DJ will make its new “Club Beats” in-store sections a hit. The new areas will be heavily promoted by Dr. Dre—whose Beats by Dr. Dre headphones will feature prominently—as well as other artists like Lady...

Santa Cruz Seeks Deadhead Archivist

UC offers $70K for job made in hippie heaven

(Newser) - Far out. The University of Santa Cruz is seeking an archivist to help handle its horde of Grateful Dead material—for a very un-hippie-like $70,000 salary, plus benefits. The school is seeking a "creative" professional with a master's degree, and preferably "expert knowledge" of the "history...

Brooklyn Bands Heat Up Music Scene
 Brooklyn Bands 
 Heat Up Music Scene 
the next big thing
Nov 9, 2009 2:45 PM CST

Brooklyn Bands Heat Up Music Scene

Dirty Projectors, MGMT just a few of the borough's exciting indie acts

(Newser) - Brooklyn is returning to the forefront of the indie music scene—with a vengeance. New York delves deep into the borough’s offerings with a list of the top 40 songs from Brooklyn musicians, the most important music bloggers, and a map of the best places to see shows. The...

Totally Crowdsourced Song Hits YouTube

Totally Crowdsourced 
 Song Hits YouTube 
WATCH THE VIDEO
Nov 9, 2009 12:34 PM CST

Totally Crowdsourced Song Hits YouTube

BBC's ChartJackers raising money for charity with 'I've Got Nothing'

(Newser) - Four teenagers are trying to break into the UK charts with no experience, no money, and no musicians...but with a lot of help from YouTube. They put together an entirely crowdsourced music video using contributed YouTube comments for the lyrics, a YouTuber-written melody, and a band, producer, and actors...

Hit 'Pause' on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Clueless cabal turns landmark into a joke

(Newser) - If you’re a music critic trying to fill out your Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot, like Patrick Goldstein , you’re facing some pretty slim pickings this year. The nominees: ABBA, the Chantels, Jimmy Cliff, Genesis, the Hollies, KISS, LL Cool J, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, the Red...

Beatles Break Free of CDs
 Beatles Break Free of CDs 
Nov 5, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Beatles Break Free of CDs

Pricey USB drive holds band's remastered studio albums

(Newser) - Beatles songs still aren't available on iTunes, but you can get them on an apple—a USB drive shaped like an apple, that is. EMI is charging a mere $279.99 for all of the band’s remastered studio albums, previously available only on CD, and a slew of video,...

Greatest Albums of the Decade
 Greatest Albums of the Decade 
Nov 3, 2009 11:15 AM CST

Greatest Albums of the Decade

From Radiohead to Bon Iver, Paste hits the highlights

(Newser) - Paste takes a look back at the past decade—and its own 10-year history—with its list of the 50 best albums of the ‘00s:
  • No. 1. Sufjan Stevens, Illinoise: “His music pushed boundaries between pop and classical.”
  • No. 4. Radiohead, Kid A: Marked “the
...

Rock Legend Chuck Berry, Top-Notch Short Story Writer

"Memphis, Tennessee" shows Berry's sociological side: Klinkenborg

(Newser) - The original Chuck Berry version of “Memphis, Tennessee” isn't as well known as some others—by Johnny Rivers, say, or Buck Owens. But the real star is the tune, first released in 1959, which Verlyn Klinkenborg suspects is the “best short story in the form of a song...

How to Tell If Your Wedding Band Hates You

Led Zeppelin and Van Halen are not good signs

(Newser) - The Dexter Lake Club Band is a fixture at a certain type of New York-area wedding. Guests leave exclaiming over how good the music was—if the happy couple and their entourage have behaved in a way that suits the musicians. If they haven't, and what the band members the...

Spice Girls Will Help Kick Off 2012 Olympics
Spice Girls Will Help Kick Off 2012 Olympics
london calling
Nov 1, 2009 3:22 PM CST

Spice Girls Will Help Kick Off 2012 Olympics

(Newser) - When the eyes of the world turn to London for the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics, the land of Shakespeare and the Beatles will present ... the Spice Girls. "They stand for so much in British music history and I can’t think of a better time for them...

Bad News: Chris Brown's New Song Is Good
Bad News: Chris Brown's New Song Is Good
music review
Oct 29, 2009 1:56 PM CDT

Bad News: Chris Brown's New Song Is Good

Is it OK to like the music but hate the abusive jerk behind it?

(Newser) - Chris Brown may be a reprehensible guy, but unfortunately, he can still sing. With the ink barely dry on his guilty plea, Brown released the lead single on his upcoming album last month, and it’s actually good, Jonah Weiner is sad to report. The instrumentals from Swizz Beatz lay...

Scariest Albums Ever Made
 Scariest Albums 
 Ever Made 
LISTEN (IF YOU DARE)
Oct 28, 2009 2:07 PM CDT

Scariest Albums Ever Made

Celebrate Halloween with these psychologically creepy albums

(Newser) - James Montgomery, tasked with listing the scariest albums ever made for MTV in honor of Halloween, resisted the temptation to include Avril Lavigne's The Best Damn Thing. Instead, he went for the "dense, raw, positively horrifying albums, guaranteed to turn your Halloween into a total fright-fest." Check them...

Jay-Z Cleans Up 'Empire' for World Series

Rapper will keep his language PG while performing for Yanks

(Newser) - The lyrics to Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" are sometimes as raw as New York, but it looks like the rapper will clean things up when he performs his city anthem at the World Series. A source close to the rapper says Jay-Z won't utter curses or other raunchy...

At Last, Rockers Shut Up and Sing
 At Last, Rockers 
 Shut Up and Sing 
VIRGINIA M. MONCRIEFF
Oct 27, 2009 12:30 PM CDT

At Last, Rockers Shut Up and Sing

Really, it's about time rockers made concerts all about the music

(Newser) - Bono—he of the eons-long concert diatribes about everything from Burma to the whales—has done the unthinkable. "Bono has started editing himself," Virginia M. Moncrieff realized during U2's Rose Bowl concert. And it's about time: Though Moncrieff admires their causes, she has reached the age where the...

Concert Earnings Defy Recession

Big-name acts, up-and-comers see modest rise in attendance

(Newser) - Concert tours remained surprisingly strong this year despite the weak economy, with slightly more people heading out to see their favorite acts than in 2008. Gross revenue held steady at $1 billion for the period from May 1 to Sept. 1, matching earnings a year earlier. Big-name acts like Kenny...

Bob Dylan's Xmas Album 'Sort of Insane'
 Bob Dylan's 
 Xmas Album 
 'Sort of Insane' 
MUSIC REVIEW
Oct 26, 2009 11:13 AM CDT

Bob Dylan's Xmas Album 'Sort of Insane'

Even so, the 'beloved iconoclast' puts together an interesting collection

(Newser) - With the announcement of Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart, “smirkers got smirkier”—you try picturing Dylan singing the lyric, “How’d ya like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?” without smirking—but in the end, the collection is interesting, if a...

Brooks' Vegas Gigs Sell Out in 5 Hours

30K tickets sell briskly as country star ends retirement

(Newser) - Country music superstar Garth Brooks can still pack 'em in, selling out 30,000 tickets in five hours yesterday for a series of 20 small-scale Vegas shows that will end his retirement for the time being. The Oklahoma cowboy will put on four shows a weekend for five weekends in...

Stories 561 - 580 | << Prev   Next >>