As more time passes, it gets tougher for bands to make a big splash with album releases which force musicians to think outside the box. British pop punk band McFly is doing just as Prince did by teaming up with UK’s Daily Mail to give away its new music in the paper’s July 20th edition. McFly front man Tom Fletcher says “We want to get our music out to the widest audience possible and working with a massive paper like The Mail On Sunday will definitely help us achieve that. We’re very excited about this great opportunity.” This move exposes the band to the Sunday Mail’s 5.8 million readers.
Happy Mondays are recording a new album which is set for an early 2009 release.
Shaun Ryder confirmed the follow-up to 2007’s ‘Uncle Dysfunktional’, saying: “It’s sounding good. We had a few tracks left over from the last Mondays’ album, so we thought that we might as well do another one. Knowing us, it’ll probably come out in about two years time. I mean, the other one, we had that in the can for, what, two years before that got released, because of legal problems. It took us eight or nine years to sort out all that. So we’ve now got ourselves a new set of legal problems, which will probably take another few years to sort out and then we can get this one out.”
According to MTV News, a new Beck album is set to drop some time within the next 6 weeks. The new Beck release was reportedly produced by Gnarls Barkley’s Danger Mouse and features collaborations with a number of artists including Cat Power. That definitely sounds promising! An official announcement regarding the actual release date is supposedly coming really soon. Beck is also supposedly lining up some west coast gigs in August. There’s definitely a lot of new releases this year. It’s a good thing that most of them are great or have promise in them. It would be better if it was all free though.
Madonna performed at another private showcase to promote her new album ‘Hard Candy’ at the Olympia concert hall stage in Paris, France on Tuesday. In an interview with the Associated Press, the Queen of Pop talked about the collaboration process on her new album saying “I thought of it as a true and equal collaboration. … I like to think that when you listen to the record, you don’t just go, ‘Oh, that is a Timbaland record or that’s Pharrell (of the Neptunes).’ That you hear it and you go, ‘There is something new and different about it’.” And yet it’s pretty obvious which is which’s work.
Be sure to tune in, set your TiVos, DVRs, VCRs or whathaveyous! Alanis Morissette is set to appear on the following programs to promote her new album, Flavors of Entanglement, due out on June 10.
TV Appearance Schedule:
May 20 – Ellen
May 23 - The Today Show
June 9 - The Today Show
June 10 - Late Show With David Letterman
June 12 - Howard Stern (radio)
July 18 - Jimmy Kimmel Live!
June 11 - The View
First there was Radiohead and then Oasis. Metallica says they’re about to do it and now, Coldplay wants a piece of the action too. The UK band is giving away their music for free! Starting this past Tuesday at 12:15 PM UK time, Coldplay’s new song ‘Violet 4:11’ could be downloaded for one week only at Coldplay.com. In addition to that, London and New York City based fans will get free shows. There’s no clue as to whether any more songs will be for free but their new album ‘Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends’ will drop on June 12.
U2 are to restart work on their new album ditching a years worth of material.
The band, working on the follow up to 2004 LP How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, said that they are unhappy with the results and have decided to scrap the last 12 months in order to start afresh.
The Edge told us: “We went into this project allowing ourselves the indulgence of making music without thinking about where it was going to end up. We’re starting to get serious now”.
We all look forward to the final results…I hope it’s worth it guys!
Though pre-sales of her single and record have been low and ratings of shows she was a guest on receive low ratings, it’s not true that we’ve developed an allergy to the diva that is Mariah Carey. Based on first day sales, her new ‘E=MC2’, which was released this past Tuesday, is on track to sell over 500,000 copies in its first week. The curvaceous diva and her lambs now have a lot of reason to celebrate besides her losing 20 pounds. Congratulations! Though I’m wondering how long the celebration will last. Madonna’s album release is just around the corner.
Amy Winehouse has been warned by her label to keep out of trouble – or NEVER release another album.
Chiefs at Universal issued the stern ultimatum that the druggy singer can only put out another CD if she is clean. The firm’s European head honcho, Lucian Grainge, made a similar threat earlier this year to get her into rehab after press exposed footage of her smoking crack.
But label bosses have watched her slip back to her old ways and have reminded her of the conditions of releasing a third record. A source revealed: “Amy has been reminded of her responsibilities. Unless she is clean she will not be allowed to release another album. She took notice when Lucian talked to her earlier in the year and agreed to go to rehab. But she didn’t take it seriously enough. They would never release her from her deal, they would just not put an album out.”
Amy’s label are now privately accepting there will be no album until 2009 after she scrapped plans to start recording in the Bahamas. And my source added: “The label were not impressed. She has been warned about her behaviour and needs to keep the standards up.”
Universal’s stance suggests this could be the last album of her deal. Otherwise they would be churning something out to capitalise on her fame. And while it’s commendable they are taking a tough stand, I think Universal need Amy more than she needs them.
Mariah Carey arrived at Selfridges in London on Tuesday to promote her single ‘Touch My Body’. She was asked about whether she thought about surpassing the Beatles for the most #1 singles. Mariah responded with “I do, because people bring it up (laughs). But it’s not like I sit around thinking about that type of stuff while I’m creating something. I did write this record in terms of wanting it to be a lot of songs that could potentially be singles, because people like that.” Mariah’s latest album could help her move past music legends in he charts. She’s currently tied at #2 with Elvis Presley for most Hot 100 #1 singles with 17. The Beatles are on top with 20.
Don’t let Mariah Carey’s ‘Touch My Body’ being at the top spot of the iTunes singles chart fool you. Madonna still has a strong advantage over her when it comes to the album fight. Madonna’s new record ‘Hard Candy’ is currently at #3 on the iTunes album charts – based solely on pre-orders! Mariah’s ‘E=MC2’ is only at #9. As they say, it’s all about the complete package and not just about one thing. Mariah may have gotten one over on the Queen of Pop with her single taking the top spot of the singles chart in iTunes but it wouldn’t mean anything if she gets beaten everywhere else.
It hasn’t even come out yet but Madonna’s new album ‘Hard Candy’ is already on the number 18 spot on the Amazon best sellers list for CDs. On the other hand, Mariah Carey’s new release ‘E=MC2’ is not even in the top 100 and it’s coming out half a month before Madonna’s album will. Mariah better step up her game! But then again, the curvaceous diva’s people are saying that her album hasn’t gone on sale online yet. That’s odd. Mariah’s album comes out before Madonna’s but only ‘Hard Candy’ is available for pre-order. However, if you go to Amazon, you can pre-order her album. So what’s up?
Jack White and his other band, The Raconteurs, recently announced that they are going to release their sophomore album on March 25 – that’s less than a week from today! According to the band’s website, they’re foregoing the corporate norms and trying to get the music everywhere from corporate stores to indie stores to online stores – everywhere! They say “We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and then marketing and promoting it thereafter. The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by it’s first weeks sales, pre-release promotion, or by someone defining it for you before you get to hear it.” Everyone’s doing something different to get their sound out these days.
Danity Kane will soon have a new album out but in the mean time, the girls like to tease us by releasing the new album out for their album ‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’. What do you think? Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres, Aubrey O’Day, Dawn Richard and D. Woods are sporting some really elegant looks on this one. Wait, I can’t believe I just said that about Aubrey. You better mark your calendars because that wouldn’t happen for another 30,000 years.
The record ‘Welcome to the Dollhuse’ is Danity Kane’s second studio album and is expected for release on March 18.
There have been a couple of delays in the release of her album but now we all know that it will be out on May 20. Then they said that her new single will be out this Tuesday but the day came and went and still nothing. Then it was reported that it will be out next Tuesday but now they’re saying that Mariah Carey’s new single off her new album has been pushed back until mid-February, specifically on February 12th. The first single is said to be a song called ‘Touch My Body’. If the title of the song is anything to go by, the video for that is going to be very interesting.
Doing song covers is a pretty in thing right now. I’m sure we can all remember how many covers Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ had. She even covered that herself! But how about a cover of a cover?
The wonderful James Morrison has just done a great cover of the song ‘Valerie’. It was recently done by the British pop wreck known as Amy Winehouse on Mark Ronson’s latest album. The tune was originally done by the Zutons and it was all rock ‘n’ roll while Ronson and Wino put their trademark sound on it. James’ version offers a soulful and “hippy” vibe on the new classic.
Never fear, fans of Babyshambles; Pete Doherty has confirmed that rumours of a split are complete rubbish. Despite working on his solo album, Pete claims that it will not affect the band at all and that Babyshambles will continue to work together.
The 28 year-old singer is said to be thrilled with the new songs he has recorded; but reassures fans, “It doesn’t conflict with Babyshambles at all. It’s just a continuation of what I do. I’ve always done solo recording but instead of just knocking it out on the Internet like I used to, I’m getting a little album together.”
Doherty has yet to decide on a title for the forthcoming album; due for completion later this year.
Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine was spotted grabbing some dinner at Japanese restaurant Katsuya in Hollywood on Wednesday. He was seen with a female friend who was not his girlfriend Rebecca Ginos. He’s not cheating though. She was actually a PR pal that Adam shares with Jake Gyllenhaal.
Maroon 5 is going to be busy in the next couple of weeks. They will be doing a slew of appearances to promote ‘Goodnight Goodnight’, the fourth single released from their album ‘It Won’t Be Soon Before Long’. A video is also in the works for the song and it will be helmed by director Marc Webb.
American Idol runner up Blake Lewis was once rumored to have been dating the winner Jordin Sparks but the beat-boxing blonde was seen outside Tenjune in New York on New Year’s Eve with another Idol castoff, Haley Scarnato.
Just as they were leaving the New York hotspot, Blake mouthed off a compelling new catchphrase – “Titties in your mouth!” What? Well, you can’t go wrong with that one I guess. It’s definitely more memorable than anything off his new album. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that he did an album. Just hope that it catches on Blake, for your sake.
Kylie Minogue performed her single “2 Hearts” this past weekend on Germany’s popular tv show “Wetten Dass”. Kylie’s single and latest album, “2 Hearts” and “X”, stands currently at #11 and #5, respectively on the UK’s charts.
Check it Out!!!
The Sunday Observer magazine recently named one of the best selling international artists of 2007 as their ‘Man of the Year’. The title couldn’t have gone to anyone more questionable, at least when it comes to the ‘man’ part but congratulations goes nonetheless to Mika.
In the accompanying interview, the singer talks about what he’s planning to do for his next album. He says that “I come back I won’t come back apologetically. It’ll be another pop album. And it’ll be a hurricane.”
Do you think that the world is ready for Hurricane Mika? Well, if he says that it’s going to be ‘another’ pop album, I guess we have our answer.
I recently watched a comedy sketch about U2 that outlined the very true fact that they have a very definite sound in almost all of their songs. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just who they are. Not knowing all their songs myself; I am still pretty confident I could identify a U2 tune.
But the guys are currently working on two albums worth of demos that take in dance, trance and African influences. The inspiration comes after spending time at a musical festival in Morocco where they marvelled at intricate vocal patterns. This new inspiration along with some amazing guitar riffs from the Edge mean that U2 are set to surprise us all with a totally new sound.
Excellent; U2 are extremely talented band. I look forward to hearing a new version of the old talent.
For those of you wondering, Blake is still on the market - and on the prowl.
He recently told MSNBC that, since being an American Idol finalist, he’s been pursued by older women. And quite honestly, he wouldn’t mind settling down with one of them.
“I got a little bit of that, some cougars definitely….I love older women, so it was fantastic.”
He’s even gotten some antique negligee thrown at him during shows. “I finally got my first pair of panties and they were huge gigantic grandma panties. It was awesome.” Umm, someone must really like Blake and his beatboxing self.
For the Blake fans out there, his album Audio Day Dream is in stores December 4.
It’s now been close to two months since Josh Groban released his new album, a Christmas collection called ‘Noel’, and it’s still topping the charts in America. In the past week, the record sold 405,041 copies. That’s double the amount he sold the week before! The jump can only be attributed to the fact that Josh appeared on Oprah’s ‘Favorite Things’ show last Tuesday. His album is now certified platinum.The High School Musical 2 soundtrack also made it to the top 10 by selling 182,962 copies bringing total sales to 2.3 million. Alicia Keys continues to move massive amounts selling 348,548 copies this past week.
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