Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hip Hop Officially Just Became Uncool


Justin Bieber has revealed that two of the biggest current hip hop artists, Kanye West and Drake, will be collaborating with the teen pop sensation on his new album due out in the next few months.

West seems to have always had Bieber Fever. In the past he tweeted: "Listening to @JustinBieber 'Run Away Love'...I love Sunday mornings in the crib."

...Yo Kanye, Imma let you finish, but Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus's duet was the best of all time.


Former Backstreet Boy's Back, All Right!

Hooray -- The missing cog has been found!

Kevin Richardson recently announced he will be joining the Backstreet Boys once again at a Bahamas concert on December 3 and then most likely indefinitely. Richardson was the only Backstreet Boy that did not partake in a reunion that began five years ago when the group released two albums and collaborated with New Kids On The Block, forming NKOTBSB.

We can all thank our lucky stars that Richardson has taken a break from his busy career of doing nothing to rejoin the Backstreet Boys. The group is now complete by adding another washed up singer--but not just any washed up singer--one with the look of a degenerate and/or pedophile.




Friday, October 28, 2011

Green Day Celebrate Halloween in NYC

Photo Credit: Jessica Levy
Green Day celebrated Halloween with 300 lucky fans last night during their concert at The Studio at Webster Hall. The show was announced Wednesday morning, with tickets on sale hours later. It sold out in 35 seconds. 

The band took the stage at around midnight in their costumes: Billie Joe Armstrong dressed as Jack Skelington and Tre Cool dressed in drag. They opened with a cover of "Monster Mash," followed by over 20 brand new songs. The encore consisted of oldies including "She," "2,000 Light Years Away" and "Welcome to Paradise." 

As usual, Green Day fans went home extremely satisfied. 

Set List:
Monster Mash
Crushing Bastards
Let Yourself Go
Carpe diem
Stay the Night
Stop When the Red Lights Flash
Oh Love
Fell for Snoo
Hybrid Moments
Nuclear Family
Sweet 16
Stray Heart
Stop, Drop and Roll 
Dirty Rotten Bastards
8th Ave. Serenade
Makeout Party
Wild One
Fuck Time (Foxboro Hot Tubs song)
Wow! That's Loud
Soda Pop Curtis
Trouble Maker
Lazy Bones
Little Boy Named Train
Teenagers From Mars (The Network song)
Sex Drugs & Violence
Amanda
Blue Moon of Kentucky (Elvis cover)
Welcome to Paradise
Geek Stink Breath
Hitchin' A Ride
She
Going to Pasalacqua
1,000 Hours
Murder City
Letterbomb
2,000 Light Years Away
Paper Lanterns

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Miley Cyrus: Maybe Third Time's A Charm?

Miley Cyrus, or Hannah Montana--whatever the hell her name is--will reportedly be covering a Bob Dylan song in the near future. The song will appear on the charity album, Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Adele, Sting, Patti Smith, Dave Matthews Band and ...[groan]... Ke$ha will also appear on the album.

Cyrus has been widely criticized over covers of classics she has done in the past, including Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Poison's "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." I'm sure she won't disappoint us with her consistent track record.


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Amy Winehouse's Cause of Death... for Real, This Time.


The coroner has finally stated a cause of death for Amy Winehouse. Ready for this? Winehouse consumed a "very large amount of alcohol" -- so much that it was five times over the legal driving limit. OK, now that we've stated the obvious... 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Hanson Play to Save The Music, Celebrate Drummer's Birthday

Photo Credit: Jessica Levy
Teen pop group turned indie rock band, Hanson, were one of the performers at VH1's Save the Music Foundation's Family Day in NYC yesterday. The band not only celebrated their love for music, but also drummer Zac's 26th birthday. Other performers at the free event included: Mat Kearney, Hot Peas 'N Butter, SafetySuit and The American Secrets. 

Hanson, who are used to playing for a crowd of women in their late 20's, seemed to enjoy their new fans ranging from the ages of around 1-5 years old. Isaac, 30, told the crowd that this is the "cutest thing" he's ever seen in response to the young children dancing to Hanson's music. Taylor, 28, who has four kids of his own, encouraged all "little people" to come to the front of the crowd in order to view the concert better. He also joked that short women should come to the front as well.

"When our first record came out, Zac was 11, I was 16 and Taylor was 14," Isaac said before breaking into the first chords of "MMMBop."

Fans got an extra special treat as a birthday cake was brought on stage in celebration of youngest brother Zac's 26th birthday. "Remember, kids, don't play with matches. Let your parents light the candles in your house," a VH1 rep joked.

Zac did not share his cake with fans.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Shocking 'American Idol' News


This just in: Season 9 American Idol winner Lee DeWyze that no one remembers or can name one song by has been dropped from RCA Records.

Darn. At least Season 9 runner-up, Crystal Bowersox, remains signed to RCA. She had that hit called... ummm... uhhh.... yeah. Anyway...

Monday, October 3, 2011

A Not-So-Rancid Musical Web Series

Punk rocker Tim Armstrong of Rancid has created an online musical theater series, Tim Timebomb's RockNRoll Theater


Armstrong says the show is influenced by The Twilight Zone and other "anthology television from the late fifties, early sixties." AFI's Davey Havok and Rancid guitarist Lars Frederiksen will be featured in the debut episode, "Dante." Armstrong revealed to Rolling Stone that he has written 50 new songs for the first 12 episodes. 


"When I asked Davey Havok I couldn't even get my pitch out. I was like 10 seconds into my pitch and he was on board. The first thing we did was a short with Jack Grisham from TSOL, he was on board in like 10 seconds," Armstrong says. "Singers love to do dialogue. There's a scene, Davey is the devil and Lars plays this bad guy, the antagonist, they loved it."


This isn't the first time Havok has appeared in a musical. The rocker starred in Green Day's American Idiot on Broadway as the antagonist role of St. Jimmy for two weeks in March. Havok was decent in the role, but portrayed it as a bit too flamboyant for my liking to be a drug dealing villain. Maybe this will work out better when he plays the devil in Armstrong's musical.


Aside from Rancid, Armstrong has played in some of the most successful punk rock bands, including Operation Ivy and The Transplants. He is also the owner of Hellcat Records, home of Dropkick Murphys, Tiger Army and of course Rancid and Operation Ivy. 

Tim Timebomb's RockNRoll Theater will premiere October 21 on VEVO.



The Definition of Mixing Oil and Water

What does convicted felon T.I. do after being released from prison after 10 months?

Duh, he joins country pop princess Taylor Swift on stage in Atlanta to sing "Live Your Life"!





In other news--enjoy Lil Wayne's remix of Joe Jonas' "Just in Love." The chorus of the generic fluffy pop song is as follows: Girl, I'm just in love with you/No other words words to use/I'm just in love with you.

As always, Weezy adds his own classy finishing touch: We go together like money and power/I don't need nuttin', nuttin', but her/All them other bitches ain't f--kin' with her. How appropriate!


Joe Jonas must feel like he has some street cred by association now with that "Parental Advisory" sticker on his album cover. 



Saturday, October 1, 2011

October Featured Artist: Side by Side


Side by Side is a pop-rock band from Charlotte, NC comprised of Joelle Kittrell (vocals) and twin brothers Michael (guitar) and Joseph Pepe (bass). The twins met Joelle through a mutual connection and in 2010 began recording a self-titled EP that would be released in February 2011. 

This EP takes you on a journey through heartbreak; It begins with the up-beat song, "My Heart," a track that is the most worth listening to. It later ends with the soft ballad "To The Sky," which consists of a beautiful acoustic arrangement, including a violin and piano. The music is fairly simple and the lyrics are decent, but the most positive element by far is Kittrell's voice, which reminds me much of a young Natalie Merchant. Side by Side's five-song EP is short, but very much sweet. 

Billboard voted Side by Side one of the top six unsigned bands in the nation in its 2011 Battle of the Bands. Michael Pepe revealed to the magazine that the band takes time to discuss events happening in their life weekly in hope to inspire new songs. "Go for it all, or don't go at all" is a motto that Pepe says the band sticks to.

Learn more about Side by Side: Website | Facebook | Twitter