Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’: Album Review

Patrick Bowman
May 21st, 2013 // 2 Comments
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daft punk random access memories
With Random Access Memories(out today, ), Daft Punk’s first non-Tron related new music since 2005′s Human After All, the iconic EDM masterminds tread perilously close to creating an album’s worth of nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. Comprised of childhood friends Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, the French duo have meticulously crafted (and I mean meticulously) 13 tracks of luxuriously reimagined disco, soft rock, prog, retro-house and synth-pop, featuring the actual, bona fide legendary songwriters, producers and session players that made those types of music famous in the first place (Giorgio Moroder, Todd Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Paul Williams, Paul Jackson Jr….uh…Pharrell, etc.)

What distinguishes RAM from a six-disc ’70s/’80s club compendium advertised on Palladia and Fuse at 3:00 a.m. on a Tuesday not only has to do with Bangalter and De Homem-Christo’s complete and utter devotion to the classic styles, and makers, of the dance music they are undoubtedly obsessed with, but it also has to do with their ability to curate every aspect of the album experience — the announcement ads, the teaser spot premieres at Coachella and SNL, The Collaborators video series, the actual sequencing and track progression of the album, the songs themselves — in the manner of a spectacle that was mysterious and alluring. This was all a huge risk, but it’s ultimately rewarding. More »

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‘The Voice’: Adam Levine And Maroon 5 Perform New Single “Love Somebody”

Caila Ball
May 21st, 2013 // 3 Comments
Adam Has The Blues
maroon 5 adam levine love somebody the voice performance may 2013

When faced with eloquently acknowledging a tragedy on a live show, The Voice knows the right man for the job: Carson Daly. Alright, so he’s a little awkward when he tries to broach any hard-hitting news, but at least he’s better than bubbly pipsqueak Christina Milian. The yikes of the delivery vehicles aside, The Voice appropriately acknowledges Monday’s tragic tornado in Oklahoma before starting up the performances.

Oklahoman Blake Shelton, notably affected by the natural disaster in his home state, says, “It makes it hard to sit here and do this tonight,” but he fulfills his obligations with Oklahoma in his thoughts. Usher gets serious about the things, describing competing in the final ten as “guerrilla warfare,” perhaps adding a bit more intensity to the competition than it warrants. Save the war comparisons until the final four! More »

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‘The X Factor’ Season 3 New Judges Confirmed: Kelly Rowland & Paulina Rubio

Sam Lansky
May 21st, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Kelly Rowland Paulina Rubio Split

Well! After all that speculation, our Season 3 judges for The X Factor have been unveiled — and there were some unexpected choices! (Well, one unexpected choice. Kelly Rowland had already been revealed, sort of.) The final judging panel will include Rowland alongside returning judges Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato, as well as Latin superstar Paulina Rubio. 

It’s been a bumpy ride for The X Factor: Season 1 saw the more-or-less incoherent Paula Abdul team up with the hugely unlikable Nicole Scherzinger and the authoritative-but-not-particularly-great-television L.A. Reid, resulting in mediocre ratings; Season 2 brought out the big guns with Britney Spears and Demi Lovato replacing Abdul and Scherzinger, but not even Spears could save the show’s ratings. Now, it seems, Cowell’s going for interesting characters: Lovato has proven her mettle as a capable and empathetic judge with a lot of insight to share, while Rowland already has experience judging The X Factor in the UK (where she proved to have a ton of character), and Rubio — while a lesser-known commodity in the United States — is enormous in Latin America and has been a judge on The Voice in Mexico.  More »

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DMX’s ‘It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot’ Turns 15: Backtracking

Carl Williott
May 21st, 2013 // Leave a Comment
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dmx its dark and hell is hot cover

Backtracking is our recurring look back at the pop music that shaped our lives. Our friends may come and go, but we’ll be spinning our favorite albums forever.

DMX ’s debut is a landmark hip-hop album, but it’s also a pop album (as in, popular), which is utterly hilarious. It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, released on May 19, 1998, went straight to No. 1 its opening week, and it went 4x Platinum in just over two years. That’s despite the fact that it was a sociopathic, off-putting collection of shouted rhymes about righteous vengeance and nihilistic violence paired with grimy, foreboding beats. So how did such a carnival of misery and carnage become such a mainstream hit?

Teenage boys, mainly. DMX’s debut may have been the product of a grizzled 27-year-old street hustler, but it was an album for kids half his age. Pubescent males know not about subtlety, and the album had a mindlessly overt potency. When my friends and I were 14, the album’s energy matched ours (the motherfucker was barking!), and the CD’s fury broke through our relentless clatter of imbecility.

But the album had appeal beyond the mallrats because DMX (real name Earl Simmons) and primary producer Dame Grease created a suffocatingly dark stomp that was a whisker shy of being a concept album, with hooks that were just as badass as the MC. And that’s how it became the bleakest of pop beasts. More »

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The Wanted’s Reality Show Gets Premiere Date: Morning Mix

Bianca Gracie
May 21st, 2013 // Leave a Comment
The Wanted Promo Photo 3

Did you hear?

:: E! has set the premiere date for The Wanted Life, the new reality series that follows British boy band The Wanted and their chaotic lives. The new series will air on June 2 at 10 p.m. [Zap 2 It]

:: Following the news that he’ll be returning to The Voice, Cee Lo Green is also planning to release three projects this year! Backstage at Billboard Awards he said there will be new albums from Goodie Mob, Gnarls Barkley and Cee Lo himself. [Billboard]

:: The Saturdays‘ Rochelle Humes has given birth to her first child, a daughter named Alaia-Mai. The singer took to Twitter to announce the news, writing “Mum is doing great & baby is amazing! We are both overjoyed! Thanks for your love X.” [Daily Mail]

:: J. Cole has just released the grim album cover for his forthcoming Born Sinner (dropping June 18). He explained the album’s theme to MTV: “I like my album themes to be metaphors because it gives me the freedom to speak about something else that’s going on in my life, so the Born Sinner thing is not about church, it’s not even about religion. It’s using that as canvas to get other messages across and that’s what the album will be.” [Rap Radar]

:: Coachella, arguably the most-hyped of all music festivals, has announced its 2014 dates. The festival will take place over two weekends: April 11-13 and April 18-20. Better start booking flights now! [Pitchfork]

:: Avril Lavigne‘s unexpected relationship with Nickelback‘s Chad Kroeger is about to become official. The singer sat down with MTV to talk wedding plans, saying that it’s going smoothly. She’s also planning to debut her fifth album in September. No word if there’ll be a duet with her future husband. [MTV]

After the jump, find out which music acts you can catch on TV today. More »

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Beyonce’s “Grown Woman” Leaks: Listen To The Full Song

Carl Williott
May 20th, 2013 // 3 Comments
beyonce mrs carter tour tumblr

Finally! Whether it’s to distract from the (apparently false) pregnancy reports, or just because Beyonce was sick of people harping about her ubiquity being paired with a dearth of new music, somebody has posted new Beyonce music. Yes, “Grown Woman” has hit the Web, and we can finally hear how it sounds in full, separated from Bey’s ultra-fierce Pepsi ad.

It’s a frenetic, globetrotting dance track with a tribal rhythm, chants and a descending bass line that sounds like a sped up version of the one in Justin Timberlake‘s “Pusher Love Girl.” A feisty Bey declares “I can do whatever I wawnt,” and that includes giving us a song that sounds nothing like what anyone was expecting. It’s almost like this track is destined to be the theme song to the next Women’s World Cup or something.

“Grown Woman” was reportedly co-written by The-Dream and produced by Timbaland. Hear it below, and then check out the song’s lyrics. More »

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Mary J. Blige Gets Slammed With $3.4 Million Tax Lien

Bianca Gracie
May 20th, 2013 // 1 Comment
Lifetime Celebrates The Premiere Of "Betty & Coretta" With Cast

Looks like Lauryn Hill isn’t the only R&B singer with tax troubles. R&B icon Mary J. Blige has just been struck with a major bill by the IRS — $3.4 million to be exact, according to TMZ. The tax service claims the singer did not file taxes from 2009-11.

As MTV points out, that’s not the only hateration and taxation for the singer. She owes an additional $901,769.65 in back taxes to the state of New Jersey, as well as outstanding debts stemming from lawsuits against her charity for failing to pay back several hefty loans.

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Will Smith Says He’s Kicking Around New Music Ideas With Kanye West

Carl Williott
May 20th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
King Kanye & The Prince
kanye west will smith studio

Remember when Kanye West was photographed in a Brazilian studio with Will Smith back in February? While we were giddy at the prospect of a collaboration between the two, we figured it was just some meaningless vacation jaunt. But it turns out the Fresh Prince and Yeezus really have hit the studio together to work on some new material.

“I’ve been messing around with Kanye, we went to the studio a couple times,” Smith revealed during a press junket for After Earth. “I might get the bug. I’m not gonna do it unless I’m truly inspired, but Ye’s been pushing me a little bit.” We’re not exactly sure how new, angry Kanye would combine with He of Gettin’ Jiggy, but we want to find out. Watch Smith in the interview snippet below. More »

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The-Dream Duets With Kelly Rowland On “Where Have You Been”: Listen

Bianca Gracie
May 20th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Kelly Rowland The Dream

The-Dream produced Kelly Rowland‘s much-discussed single “Dirty Laundry,” and now Rowland returns the favor with her feature on Dream’s new song “Where Have You Been.”  Borrowing the classic R&B duet formula, the song (which will appear on his upcoming album IV Play) is a smooth ballad about a rocky relationship. The-Dream explained the song to Rap-Up, saying that it’s “just a signature R&B duet record, no games, no nothing, straight down the middle. It was a chance for me to bond with another friend now that I have, which is Kelly.”

In addition to making great music together, The-Dream and Kelly Rowland will be co-headlining the “Lights Out Tour” (if Kelly doesn’t bail on the whole thing for her X Factor judging duties, that is) — which kicks off on May 23, the same date that IV Play is set to drop.

Listen to “Where Have You Been” below. More »

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Billboard Music Awards Score Huge Ratings, Up 2 Million Viewers From 2012 Broadcast

Carl Williott
May 20th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Justin Bieber Billboard Music Awards

Last night’s Billboard Music Awards scored a huge ratings win. Which just goes to show, if you build a bloated broadcast around the highest-selling musicians in pop, the people who made them the highest-selling musicians in pop will come. In addition to bringing in 9.4 million viewers (up 28% from last year’s 7.4M total), the Sunday (May 19) broadcast was number one in the 18-49 demographic, which is pretty much the only thing advertisers care about. Obviously Tracy Morgan was the X factor this time around. More »

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