Mon Dec 22 2008 by Chris Molanphy
Writing teen-oriented pop is a fairly specialized talent. Writing for a musical is an even more rarified art. Combining the two—and introducing the musical-theater art form to an entire generation that previously had little use for the stuff—is some kind of pop triple-lutz, a strange sort of accomplishment.
Two songwriters behind Disney’s High School Musical series, Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, acknowledge the strangeness, or at least uncanniness, of their feat. I recorded a conversation with them a few weeks ago, about a month after the third chapter in the series—its cinematic debut, after two high-rated made-for-TV movies—debuted atop the box office list with the highest-ever debut gross for a musical. The two writer-performers sounded both gratified and mildly dumbfounded by their good fortune, even as it represents to them the culmination of a couple of decades of happy toil in the pop-music trenches.
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Thu Dec 18 2008 by Lucas Jensen
Music coverage has been rather light in the post-David Browne era at Entertainment Weekly, to say the least. To be frank, their non-celebrity music coverage is moribund at best, usually gathering as much print space as the stage section does. It almost feels like an afterthought. Heck, I wasn’t even sure who they’d tap to come up with the mag’s 2008 year-end lists, but Leah Greenblatt and Chris Willman answered the call with Ten Best Albums and Five Worst Albums lists, and the mag threw in a list of singles for good measure. (I’ve always liked the fact that EW publishes worst lists, even though the criteria for “worst” often seems more ephemeral, cross-referencing expectations with actual quality. I think that’s an OK measure of “worst” as far as it goes, but I’ve never as intrigued by the music worsts as I am by the movie or book picks.) TV On The Radio’s Dear Science tops Greenblatt’s list, while The Hold Steady’s Stay Positive tops Willman’s; complete rundowns after the jump.
THE GOOD: These are easily some of the most diverse lists you’ll see out there. Why, Greenblatt’s best and worst lists are almost half female and half African-American! I love “Live Your Life,” and I’m glad to see it on here. Also good to see Q-Tip and Erykah Badu representing, although I won’t hold my breath for the hat-tips to translate into sales.
THE BAD: About that No. 1 single. Does anybody really think that “Love in This Club” was the No. 1 song of the year, chart prowess aside? I sure don’t. Also, I’m not a Fleet Foxes hater like some around here, but “White Winter Hymnal” has never struck me as much of a “single.” And speaking of singles, I think that MGMT record is a good pair of them. Overall, I’m not one to really say someone should or shouldn’t be on these lists, but I do think it’s funny that Dave Sitek appears in the best (Dear Science tops Greenblatt’s list) and worst (Scarlett Johansson’s Anywhere I Lay My Head tops Willman’s list) sections.
THE WHAAA?: This has more to do with EW.com than anything. I get so tired of them burying their content in gallisticles [tm], those slow-operating gallery-based listicles that bring them crazy page views but bring me nothing but endless frustration. I hate them so much and it seems like they make up half of EW.com’s content these days. Gross.
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Wed Dec 10 2008 by Maura
In the current music climate, first-week sales are more important than ever—not so much as a predictor of future success, but a way for artists to claim a high “peaked at this spot on the charts” number, what with the cycle of promotion for 99.9% of cultural products screeching to a halt on said items’ release date. For two relatively high-profile releases in 2008, the test, then, became trying to find as many sales as possible during that first week so as to ensure a high-enough chart position for said acts to at least seem kind of relevant for a day or so. (Al Franken and Nicole Scherzinger, together at last!)
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Tue Dec 2 2008 by Maura
This morning, Britney Spears was on Good Morning America to celebrate the release of her “comeback” album Circus and her 27th birthday, as well as preview her just-announced tour; above, she performs the album’s title track in a performance that will no doubt have reams of textual analysis written about it by the time lunch rolls around. (Me, I think she looks a little tired, and I’m wavering back and forth between the reason being jet lag or a sudden realization that the cycle that brought her to the point where she needed a big splashy comeback is beginning anew.) Tour dates after the jump.
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Sun Nov 23 2008 by Maura
Good evening, friends! Tonight is the American Music Awards, the annual event where the American public is allowed to pretend like it cares about the music industry as the biz’s most important releases either get pushed out to retail ahead of their street dates or get shoved into a dusty corner of the retailers with which they’ve struck exclusive distribution deals. And as if to underscore the whole “why people don’t care about the music business” ideal,” I’m watching the red carpet show, which apparently has contracted at least partial hostship duties to Nicole “You Know, I’m In The Pussycat Dolls” Scherzinger, who is apparently contractually obligated to flaunt her ass as she conducts awkward interviews with the likes of Steven Tyler and Ne-Yo in hopes that people actually care about her existence and maybe buy a copy of Doll Domination so as to easily conjure up further posterior-related fantasies in the comfort of their own home. Full coverage after the jump!
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Posted to:
American Music Awards,
Beyonce,
Chris Brown,
Christina Aguilera,
Justin Timberlake,
Liveblog,
Ne-Yo,
New Kids On The Block,
Nicole Scherzinger,
Pink,
Pussycat Dolls,
Rihanna,
Scott Weiland,
Taylor Swift
Mon Nov 3 2008 by Maura
Speaking of LeBron James, he’s apparently the… More »
Fri Oct 17 2008 by Dan Gibson
I’m sure it’s more due to the booking power of Clear Channel than the promotional talents of morning show idiots Johnjay and Rich, but this year’s installment of KZZP’s Phooson looks to be the greatest collection of talent ever. Sure, the concert has abandoned its original mission of bringing music to the gap between Phoenix and Tucson (get it? that’s why it’s called Phooson) and set up shop at an amphitheater in Phoenix. But when you look at the lineup, you’ll realize that Casa Grande–the little town smack in the middle of the two bigger cities–couldn’t have handled this much star power.
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Wed Oct 15 2008 by Maura
The major labels’ latest attempt to jumpstart the physical-media market, the microSD card-with-album format known as SlotMusic, will start trickling into Best Buy and Wal-Mart outlets this week. The cards will retail for… $14.99. For a one-gigabyte memory card and an album, and the possibility of liner notes or cover art or that old standby of uselessness, cell phone wallpaper also being included. Sure, $14.99 is lower than the price of some one-gig microSD cards, but at a time when Americans are cutting back on spending, you’d think that people would be more likely to try a new format of entertainment–even with music files that are free of DRM–if they thought they were getting a deal of some sort. Especially since the cards are teeny tiny, and the whole “you can sync it with your portable music player right away” chatter doesn’t hold water with iPods and iPhones, which don’t have microSD slots. Oh, music industry, you never fail to misunderstand how real people who don’t get promo copies of every CD under the sun actually, you know, consume your product. Anyway, if you want to be the first on your block–or, hell, in your zip code–to try this new format out, the full list of “the 40 top artists” involved in this boondoggle after the jump.
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Mon Oct 13 2008 by Maura
What’s a bigger sign of the Pussycat Dolls’… More »
Tue Oct 7 2008 by Maura
The new single by the Pussycat Dolls, the… More »
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