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Clarkson Soars to Top of Charts
 Clarkson Soars to Top of Charts 
Jan 29, 2009 8:22 AM CST

Clarkson Soars to Top of Charts

New single rocketed from 97th spot in Hot 100

(Newser) - Kelly Clarkson’s new single has jumped from No. 97 to No. 1 , breaking the record held by Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” for the largest leap to the top spot, Billboard reports. “My Life Would Suck Without You” sold 280,000 digital downloads in one week and is climbing...

Tonight Marks Reinvention for Franz Ferdinand
Tonight Marks Reinvention
for Franz Ferdinand
NEW RELEASE
Jan 27, 2009 11:08 AM CST

Tonight Marks Reinvention for Franz Ferdinand

Disco-charged album offers 'brand new start' for Scottish band

(Newser) - Franz Ferdinand’s third album, Tonight, is a “wholesale reinvention of their sound,” writes Andy Langer in Esquire. Establishing riffs rooted in bass rather than their trademark guitar sound, the quartet’s effort—out now—treads where few have dared, says Langer.  “The Achilles heel of...

Babies Ready to Rock at Birth

Infants can perceive rhythmic regularity

(Newser) - Babies are born ready to get in the groove, a new study suggests. Researchers played repetitive rock beats for infants, and when “metrically-unimportant” aspects of the music were absent, the babies’ auditory activity didn’t change much. But if there was a shift in the rhythm—for instance, if...

What Makes Joel the Worst Singer Ever?
What Makes Joel the
Worst Singer Ever?
OPINION
Jan 24, 2009 3:33 PM CST

What Makes Joel the Worst Singer Ever?

Contempt, phoniness drives 'really bad art'

(Newser) - Billy Joel serves up his own brand of schlock-rock, but why is it so uniquely bad? Critic Ron Rosenbaum easily pans the piano man—"anodyne, sappy, superficial, derivative, fraudulently rebellious"—but what he hates most is the “unearned contempt" in Joel's tunes. It's usually for “the...

Grammys Should Turn Up the Volume
 Grammys Should 
 Turn Up the Volume 
OPINION
Jan 23, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Grammys Should Turn Up the Volume

Oscars get much more attention

(Newser) - Academy Award nominations are all over the news, but people seem to have forgotten about the Grammys. “I didn't even know the Grammys still existed,” writes Dan Abramson on the Huffington Post, but “not only do the Grammy Awards still exist, they might even be coming up....

Time to Retire the Crotch Shots, Madge
Time to Retire the Crotch Shots, Madge
OPINION
Jan 22, 2009 11:31 AM CST

Time to Retire the Crotch Shots, Madge

'Trussed chicken' poses reveal diva's pathetic desperation

(Newser) - More than gloves came off for Madonna during her divorce, and it seems no amount of pleading can stop the 50-year-old’s “forced erotica,” Jan Moir writes in the Daily Mail. Madge’s crotch shots for her new Hard Candy album are “the death rattle of a...

Noisy Teens Sentenced to Manilow Sessions

'Music misery' sentences used to bring noisemakers in line

(Newser) - Call it cruel and unusual punishment—or at least unusual. When a Colorado judge sentences teenagers guilty of blasting car stereos too loud in Fort Lupton, he often imposes a session of enforced "musical misery," the Los Angeles Times reports. That means a Friday night in his courtroom...

95% of Music Downloads Illegal: Industry

40B tracks shared illegally, group claims

(Newser) - Nearly all—95%—of music downloads globally are illegal, at least according to the industry, Techdirt reports. The numbers come from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and indicate that even a 25% increase in online music purchases last year couldn’t overcome the effects of piracy. According to...

Phoenix Rises as Rapper Joaquin

(Newser) - Retired actor and ex-Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix hit a Vegas stage last night in his new incarnation—as a rapper, People reports. "This is me saying this is who I am. This is my story," Phoenix said before performing at LAVO in The Palazzo. Brother-in-law Casey Affleck recorded...

Courtney Love Knocks Jews ... in Jewish Magazine

Singer utters a few colorful words on girl bands, actors and parenting, too

(Newser) - Courtney Love says she’s sober, but her recent anti-Semitic remarks in a Jewish magazine might give some observers pause, the New York Post reports. “Every time you buy a Nirvana record, part of that money is not going to Kurt’s child, or to me, it’s going...

Motown Giants Mark 50 Years of Music

Abdul "Duke" Fakir: Studio A is hallowed ground

(Newser) - Musical legends gathered today at Hitsville, USA—Motown Records' original headquarters—to celebrate the Detroit label's 50th anniversary, Billboard reports. The Four Tops' Abdul "Duke" Fakir was joined by musicians from bands such as the Miracles and Martha & the Vandellas to pay tribute to Barry Gordy, who started...

Beyoncé Hit Is Soundtrack for More Market Chaos: Prof

Analysis of pop charts finds steady songs predict turbulent finance

(Newser) - Beyoncé’s smash hit "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" might be the harbinger of continued chaos in the financial markets, the Guardian reports. Hit songs with steady, regular rhythms—or “low beat variance”—throughout correlate with volatility in the American markets, an NYU professor...

Chinese Virtuoso Conducts Assault on Glass Ceiling

Classical superstar Xian Zhang is young, energetic—and a woman

(Newser) - In the traditional world of classical music, no area has been less hospitable to women than the conductor’s platform. So it’s remarkable that one of the world’s hottest maestros is not just a woman, but a 35-year-old from China—Xian Zhang, associate conductor at the New York...

iTunes to Sell Music Without Copy Protection

Prices change: They'll range from $0.69 to $1.29

(Newser) - Apple will remove DRM anti-piracy software from the music it sells on the iTunes store, the New York Times reports. As part of a new deal reached between Apple, Sony BMG, the Universal Music Group and the Warner Music Group, songs will be DRM-free and will be priced differently. New...

Leap-Year Bug Zapped Zunes
Leap-Year Bug Zapped Zunes
Jan 1, 2009 6:21 AM CST

Leap-Year Bug Zapped Zunes

Microsoft advises Zune30 owners to drain batteries, then recharge

(Newser) - All 2006 model Zune30s froze up at midnight last night because of a problem handling the last day of leap years, according to Microsoft. The company advises owners to wait until 4pm PST today, drain the device's batteries, and then recharge, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Microsoft apologized for the inconvenience,...

All the World's Zune 30s Mysteriously Freeze Up

Bizarre bug struck mp3 players just after midnight last night

(Newser) - Microsoft’s Zune has a bizarre bug: Hundreds, if not thousands of the 30G models froze up simultaneously at 12am PST, CNET reports. The MP3 players all displayed a startup status bar frozen at 100%; the timing has prompted some Zune owners to call the problem “Z2K,” after...

Jazz Icon Hubbard Dead at 70
 Jazz Icon Hubbard Dead at 70 
Dec 29, 2008 9:02 PM CST

Jazz Icon Hubbard Dead at 70

(Newser) - Grammy-winning jazz giant Freddie Hubbard died today in Sherman Oaks, Calif., a month after having a heart attack, the AP reports. He was 70. Revered among trumpet players, Hubbard collaborated with legends like John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins as he established a blazing, hard-bop style that influenced a generation. "...

Rap's Roots Found in, Uh, Scotland?
Rap's Roots Found in, Uh, Scotland?
Dec 28, 2008 8:02 PM CST

Rap's Roots Found in, Uh, Scotland?

Scots' obscene verbal tradition gave birth to musical 'dueling': prof

(Newser) - While most don't associate rap with a bunch of white guys in skirts, a University of New Mexico professor traces the music’s roots back to the barrooms of medieval Scotland, the London Telegraph reports. “The Scots have a lengthy tradition of flyting—intense verbal jousting, often laced with...

Best Overlooked Albums of '08
 Best Overlooked Albums of '08 
OPINION
Dec 26, 2008 2:15 PM CST

Best Overlooked Albums of '08

Catfish Haven and El Perro Del Mar in top 10

(Newser) - Catfish Haven's Devastator tops Spin's year-end list of overlooked albums. George Hunter's "old-soul blues exposes other rock'n'roll kings as pretenders to the crown." The top 10:
  1. Catfish Haven, Devastator: Hunter's voice is "a husky amalgam of Joe Cocker's world-weary croon and Bill Medley's baritone bombast."
  2. El
...

Racist Music Finds Home Online
 Racist Music Finds 
 Home Online 
GLOSSIES
Dec 25, 2008 1:16 PM CST

Racist Music Finds Home Online

White-power albums readily available on iTunes, Amazon, to bands' delight

(Newser) - Online outlets are making it much easier for musical acts with unpopular messages to get their material heard, Spin reports. “Because stores wouldn’t carry us, selling records used to be laborious,” says the lead singer of white-power act Brutal Attack, citing boycotts from anti-racist groups. The band...

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