Lana Del Rey's chart-topping album, Born to Die (Image by rongzhiwei)
Singer Lana Del Rey’s highly anticipated album Born to Die was released last week to mixed reviews and outstanding sales (it hit No. 1 on the iTunes album chart above Leonard Cohen, Coldplay, and even Adele).
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Jonny Greenwood playing bowed guitar. Image by RossoGialloBianco
We’ll have some original, potentially Oscar-worthy music from Radiohead multi-instrumentalist and composer Jonny Greenwood to look forward to in 2013. (more…)
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This week’s news is not lacking in disastrous headlines–the sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, the apparent end of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis’ relationship. And if you tried searching either one of these subjects on Wednesday you might have discovered a third woe–Wikipedia’s self-administered blackout–which temporarily left curious web-surfers, journalists, and C-student’s without their most trusted source for encyclopedic information.
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New developments in the field of Awkward Cell Phone Usage suggest that people are more likely to let their phone ring through a live performance than pull it from their pocket to reveal themselves as the culprit. This news comes after a ringing iPhone disrupted the New York Philharmonic during their performance at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall on Tuesday.
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It’s been 13 years since Napster revolutionized the way we acquire music by offering the first user-friendly interface for the free swapping of MP3s. Now, finally, the mysterious grin on the mischievous, green-eyed Napster Cat can be explained: It was announced this week that for the first time ever, digital music sales have topped the physical sale of music. The spokes-kitty must have known all along what its troublesome trailblazing would eventually lead to–world digitalization.
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It looks like Michael Buble might be digging a double-platinum plaque out of his stocking this year. Buble’s “Christmas” album, a collection of timeless holiday standards, has remained No. 1 on the Billboard for a month–and the crooning angel doesn’t seem to be coming down from atop the tree until well after the holidays.
Evidently the modern world is not growing tired of the same old Yuletide tunes (especially if they’ve been revamped by the likes of Buble), so in the spirit of the holidays, we’ve compiled a short list of some interesting interpretations of your favorite Christmas classics.
Last Christmas - Florence and the Machine
The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) – Jim James (My Morning Jacket)
Silent Night – Tom Waits
White Christmas – Bob Marley & The Wailers
Happy Xmas (War is Over) – The Three Tenors
Happy Holidays from Music Jobs!
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Bringing new meaning to the term MC, songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams has been tapped as Music Consultant for the 84th Academy Awards. Williams, known for his versatile collaborations with the likes of Jay Z, Britney Spears, Madonna, and Snoop Dogg, is now teaming up with Hanz Zimmer to play this year’s award-winners up and, if necessary, off the stage.
This announcement comes weeks after Eddie Murphy dropped out as host, and assures us that even if Billy Crystal is his replacement, the Oscars won’t be lacking in funk this year.
There’s the question of how such a collaboration will sound. The Lion King with Hip Hop beats? “Drop It Like It’s Hot” featuring a sweeping orchestra? The odd couple have already worked together on the original soundtrack for the animated film Despicable Me, giving us a taste of what to expect.
Now curiosity abounds: Will Gary Oldman receive his first ever golden statuette (or even his first nomination) for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy? Will Ryan Gosling be double-nominated for Drive and The Ides of March? And of course, will they walk the red carpet to the beat of “Hot in Herre” or “Pass the Courvoisier”?
To view the full article by Gil Kaufman click here.
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After a shameful few years of mediocrity, the Grammys fought back last year, and offered a hint of breaking the mold with the underground band Arcade Fire claiming some big prizes. This caused people of all ages and backgrounds to proclaim their love or ignorance of the platinum-selling band, which was probably more attention than the Grammys had received for some time.
Fast forward to this year, and perhaps they are looking to rock the boat again? Folk rockers Mumford & Sons have more nominations than Lady Gaga. Teen-raver-sensation/dubstep hero Skrillex got more nods than Katy Perry. Other multiple nominees acts include Adele and Kanye West, naturally, but at least we can still say that many of the artists this year have been pursuing their own ideals and not the talentless flash-in-the-pans that have been molded by a pop factory.
Two major individual snubs; My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy wasn’t included for Album of the Year, nor previous Grammy dahling Taylor Swift‘s latest LP, both of which are unusual choices to leave out, given their impact on the sales charts, streaming channels and general music headlines.
Another annoying recent pattern of previous Grammy nominees, until now, was that they really liked… how to put this… ‘the oldies’. No offence, classic albums are great, but to say that the latest Paul Simon or Eagles work is more artistically interesting than their younger counterparts is often outrageous. This too, seems to have been addressed in the 2012 votes.
Whether this is all a ploy to stir up more interest or a genuine shift in voter tastes, we will have to wait and see, but the idea of a more diverse base of artists to reflect a truly diverse year is a nice thought. Not only that, but the way that folk and dubstep can both push artists into the ‘big four’ categories (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist) is an inspiring thought for independent artists everywhere.
I’ll sign off with one of the nominees for Record of the Year, and definitely one that has a wide appeal, and was only slightly overplayed 
Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.
The 54th Grammy Awards will be presented on February 12th, 2012. For a full list of all nominees, check out grammy.com/nominees/
by Lee Jarvis.
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Even though DJ Mag‘s number one DJ is actually Parisian, David Guetta is often seen as a key element in pushing dance music to the American masses. His counterparts in this operation, djs Deadmou5 and Skrillex also come in at numbers 4 and 19 respectively (view the full 100 here). According to DJ Mag, after building upon massive success in 2009, Guetta “became the go-to guy for US urban artists to hook up some dope dance beats”. His recent production list proves that, with collaborations with the Black Eyed Peas, Kelis, and Snoop Dogg helping him, and his dance beats, reach a wider audience and achieve a breakthrough in getting dance music onto American radio.
Meanwhile, DJ Times recently held an event at Marquee Nightclub in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where they crowned Kaskade as ‘America’s Best DJ 2011′. Chicago-born Kaskade regularly lands high in the Billboard Dance Charts, and has remixed pop acts such as Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga. The award ceremony rounds off a 12 week tour in which DJ Times hosted 24 parties across the US, from New York to Los Angeles. Kaskade also recently completed a video for The Craft, telling the story of his initial discovery of dance music and recent rise to stardom (look out for a quick shot of Gramaphone Records!)…
With all these ‘official’ awards, there is always a backlash from music-lovers and club-goers, touting their favorites as the biggest and best. Many of them are deserved front runners, from house music pioneers of the early eighties, to current trance heavyweights, to the underground dubstep phenomenons. The fact is that dance music as a whole has never been more prominent in the US, taking up larger stages at festivals, as well as dedicated festivals for each sub-genre. Dance music is on breakfast radio shows, in downtown bars, on the catwalk and at the gym, and in part, all of the above mentioned DJs have had a part in that over the last ten years. As for rating the best, that will always be subjective, but the fact that more people are voting and listening, means that the scene as a whole is healthy, and that we should all agree is a good thing.
by Lee Jarvis.
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