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Results 1-29 of 179 for "the roots". (0.25 second)
lineups

Bob Dylan Gives His Blessing To Another Store At The Mall

The latest entrant in the filled-to-the-brim summer festival lineup: The New American Music Union, an American Eagle-sponsored, Anthony Kiedis-curated show taking place in Pittsburgh on Aug. 8 and 9. The lineup is split between summer-fest stalwarts like Bob Dylan, Spoon, the Roots, and Black Mountain and a "battle of the bands" between 15 acts representing universities around the country. The winning band gets a whole day in a recording studio on AE's dime, which I guess we're supposed to take as a sign that their "cheaper than Abercrombie" aesthetic isn't really pulling in the shoppers as much as it did during the housing boom. (I'm happy to see that my alma mater is representing with The French Horn Rebellion, who sound kind of like a grimier Pulsars and who have a remix of Shannon's "Let The Music Play" (!!!) on their MySpace page. Go Cats!) Full lineup after the jump. More »

9:15 AM on Thu May 15 2008
By Maura Johnston
2,152 views, 3 comments

Latest by JohnDC: $$$ does indeed make the world go round. and $$$ also provides musicians with the ability to continue making music. so if this company's gonna bring 15 unsigned bands to share a stage with people like Bob Dylan, Danger Mouse, and more »

who charted

Neil Diamond Finds Temporary Shelter Atop The Album Charts

The Rick Rubin-produced Neil Diamond album Home Before Dark took the top spot on this week's album chart, selling 146,000 copies and easily outpacing its competition. Home is somehow the first No. 1 album of Diamond's career, which is probably more a testament to the wacky way the album charts were calibrated back in the day than it is to the fact that he's been reaching out to the MySpace generation. More »

1:30 PM on Wed May 14 2008
By Maura Johnston
366 views, 6 comments

?uestlove emulates Kanye West's superconspicous-consumptionish blogging style, only with a bit of a populist twist. Sample entry: "i realized how spoiled i've gotten in the past few years with my "one scuff and throw em out" steeze with my kicks. remember when mom and dad made you wear your sneaks until the sole could speak several languages?" [okayplayer.com via Nah Right]

1 comment

oh boy

Lindsay Lohan's Long Island Roots Are Showing All Over Her New Single

Another Lindsay Lohan album? Why not, when everything else about the music business is in Titanic-redecoration mode? Thankfully, she seems to have given up on the overly parenthetical titles for "Bossy," the first song from the album to leak. From the bratty lyrics to the Shep Pettibone dime-store synths, the Ne-Yo-written/Stargate-produced track sounds like it was conceived during a particularly debaucherous night of cruising Hempstead Turnpike, hanging out at Spit, and filling up on hangover-prevention food at the Empress Diner. Make of that judgment what you will; I happen to think that the results are completely acceptable for, say, a late-night trip down the Northern State Parkway. (And I'd like to give special props to whatever studio engineer had to scrape the cigarettes-and-whiskey edge of La Lohan's voice—she sounds like a changed woman!) [MINIMP3CENTER]

2:30 PM on Thu May 8 2008
By Maura Johnston
256 views, 9 comments

Latest by narymary: Her 5 note range is amazing! more »

who charted

Madonna Does Her Part To Save The Pop Charts

Madonna's Hard Candy was last week's top-selling album, shifting 280,000 copies in its first week of release and leaving every other commercially available offering in the dust. Candy was the only album on this week's chart to break the six-figures-sold mark; Mariah Carey's E=MC2, the runner-up to Hard Candy, sold 95,000 copies. More »

1:00 PM on Wed May 7 2008
By Maura Johnston
678 views, 10 comments

idolator's american idolatry

Seriously, Why Even Bother With The "American Idol" Finale At This Point?

I suppose that lots of reality-show viewers get so invested in the contestants they like, and the outcomes that they want to see that become less possible with each passing week, that they actually lose interest as the climactic episodes come closer. But this season of American Idol has to take the cake on actually driving viewers away from it, thanks to the tireless efforts of the judges, who are so in the tank for David "Licky-Loo" Archuleta that their post-Archie critiques have become a must-fast-forward part of the show for anyone who wants to remain sane. Forgetting lyrics and mashing your gums together in order to let said moments slide by? No problem! Having your voice crap out on the climactic part of a song? That's OK, dawg, you still brought it! Singing "Stand By Me" in such a way that the song's message is completely switched up, so that it becomes more about how any problem will be improved by merely basking in your glory? Hey, misunderstanding lyrical intent is part of the Archuleta package—and it has been since the kid was 12 and mugging his way to a Star Search win! More »

11:00 AM on Wed May 7 2008
By Maura Johnston
2,967 views, 27 comments

Latest by Ultragrrrl: i've been finding that the music industry-types are rooting for jason. most of the blogs LOVE him, i think its because they can appreciate the fact that he's quirky and know that, when marketed right, quirky sells... and labels are more »

rock-critically correct

"NME" Finds A Familiar Future

Once again, we present Rock-Critically Correct, a feature in which the most recent issues of Rolling Stone, Blender, Vibe, and Spin are given a once-over by a writer who's contributed to many
of those magazines, as well as a few others! In this installment, he looks at the new issue of the British indie bible NME: More »

11:00 AM on Fri May 2 2008
By Anono-Critic
824 views, 6 comments

corporate rock still sells

The Flobots Make Modern Rock Radio Safe For Rappin' Whitey Again

Since many people find it hard to tell the great from the godawful when it comes to 21st-century mainstream rock, welcome to "Corporate Rock Still Sells," where Al "GovernmentNames" Shipley examines what's good, bad, and ugly in the world of Billboard's rock charts. This time around, he's surprised to find a track by a hip-hop group making the modern rock radio rounds. More »

10:00 AM on Thu May 1 2008
By Al Shipley
1,107 views, 30 comments

idolator's american idolatry

Neil Diamond Comes To "American Idol" To-Niiiight!

Not only is tonight's American Idol Neil Diamond Night—way to keep on keeping up with your target demographic, Nigel Lythgoe!—it also represents the first evening where each of the hopefuls will warble two tracks instead of just one. Spoilers have Jason Castro singing "Forever In Blue Jeans" and "September Morn," while rumor has it that David Archuleta is going to sing "America" and "I'm A Believer." (You know that he's going to pull some sort of Smashmouthy Shrek bullshit out of the air on that second one, right?) More »

3:30 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,360 views, 6 comments

Latest by Manola: If there is a show that is going to make me quit watching AI, was this one. Neil Diamond, WTFC?!?!?!?!? What's wrong with inviting, hell, I don't know, Green Day? Fergie? Justin Timberlake? Rascal Flatts? Fantasia???? I more »

from the company that brought you radio hegemony

erockster: Horrible Name, Not Entirely Horrible Playlist

I'm having a hard time deciding how to feel about the new Clear Channel initiative erockster (no caps, please). First of all, anything that comes from Clear Channel is immediately evil, right? I think we've cleared that up already. Secondly, the station's debut in the Coachella area this weekend was hokey to the max, with billboards declaring the station as "pirate radio" with voice-disguised DJs spinning tracks from Coachella acts past and present. Thirdly, a press release dreamed up by CC's marketing execs in San Antonio that declares erockster "breaks all the rules" isn't helping any cool quotient the station might have. (And the city that isn't exactly on my good side right now, anyway.) But when you look at the playlist, you realize that the format may not be not the worst idea. More »

3:00 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Dan Gibson
443 views, 12 comments

Latest by Lawson: "erockster is created for 13- to 34-year-olds with hopes of appealing to music lovers of all ages." read that sentence again; brilliant. by their logic you simply don't listen to music if you fall outside 13-34. more »

the last word

Maybe Today Should Have Been Record Store Day

More frequently these days, we like to round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. Under consideration today are three other notable releases hitting stores today: The Roots' Rising Down, Portishead's Third, and Santogold's self-titled debut. More »

12:00 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Dan Gibson
1,162 views, 22 comments

Latest by Oldboy: And a cool re-issue: The self-titled David Johansen album, his first solo after the Dolls disbanded. more »

poor hipsters

Why Don't Rappers Realize Indie Rock Is Cool?

Why do "top-notch rappers" always work with "cheesy rock'n'rollers?" Loving popular rap while hating popular rock must be difficult for those who want to keep it real while keeping it eclectic. That rappers don't seem to show the same disdain for mainstream pap like Maroon 5, Fall Out Boy and Gwen Stefani that their white hipster fanbase does must stick in the craw of folks who know that the Flaming Lips are so much better than what's on the radio. Is it that Timbaland just hasn't heard the Flaming Lips? Does he need a critic's guiding hand? Or are they just being commercially cagey? And if the final product is good, is it ok to like it? Does that mean you like harlots like Nelly Furtado now? Thank to that accursed Roots feat Patrick Stump devil of a song, Slate's Ben Mathis-Lilley must wrestle with the pop guilt/bullshit that any self-righteous indie snob who puts Kanye West in his top ten list must eventually face. More »

1:00 PM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,473 views, 45 comments

Latest by Lawson: I think this 'story' is mainly an indictment on forced music journalism in general - y'know, "copy's due, oh shit i better think up of two things in music completely unrelated and write on them". there is a constant stream more »

idolator's american idolatry

Carly Smithson: In Memoriam

I should probably preface my writeup of American Idol's results episode by saying that I watched it while on a cross-country flight, which meant that a) I didn't have a peanut gallery to bounce my observations off until much later and b) I had to keep any bon mots to myself, since the woman sitting next to me got visibly weirded out when I gasped at the banishment of Syesha Mercado, and not Brooke White, to the Bottom Two Stools. (She was watching Animal Planet with the sound off, so maybe I caused her to think that a tiger was actually sitting in 8E.) And after Carly joined her in the losers' club—even after that cutaway where Jason Castro was caught yawning backstage!—I was expecting Syesha to get dispatched quickly, what with her suffering the curse of being not all that bad and first on a trainwrecky night. More »

6:00 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,933 views, 36 comments

Latest by Thierry: @jasonelias: Without You wasn't a Mariah song, and at least one of the Dolly Parton songs was a cover - and Neil Diamond actuallly recorded "He Ain't Heavy..." before the Hollies. So it's not like there isn't a precedent in more »

given the dog a bong

AC/DC's Brian Johnson Drops A Pot Trilogy

AC/DC's Brian Johnson has put out three new songs to promote the DVD release of Totally Baked, a pot comedy starring a cavalcade of VH-1 level stand-ups. Most entertaining of the eerily AC/DC-esque trio is "Who Phoned The Law," which appears to be about a zoo's worth of stoned animals having a wild party. Chorus: "The dog's got the munchies, the cat ate the stash. The chicken and the tuna's lying, laughing on their ass. The monkey's in the kitchen, and the donkey's in the hall. Hey! Hey! Who phoned the law?" I might have that "chicken and the tuna" line wrong, but it's not like Brian's voice is getting clearer with age. More »

5:15 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Anthony Miccio
669 views, 1 comment

Latest by D Day: And still no AC/DC on itunes. Shame. more »

crucial recapping

A JoBromance Doesn't Think About It

After last episode's tepid cliffhanger, the stage is set for mild to moderate drama, and emogurl810 always delivers. Are you ready for yet another Disney Channel star? Can you believe Emily's nefarious boyfriend-stealing compulsion? Do you know the five Ws (and the H) of journalism? Say, whatever happened to Alexis' dad? Follow me into the void for answers. More »

9:30 AM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Kate Richardson
175 views, 3 comments

obituaries

Chris Gaffney, R.I.P.


Chris Gaffney passed away yesterday after a battle with liver cancer. Gaffney had been a major part of the roots-rock scene in California for years, playing in Dave Alvin's post-Blasters group as well as recording several albums under his own name. Gaffney was one of those guys working a regular job and playing gigs in crappy bars at night that never really got the sort of break his talent might have merited, but in whatever theater, nightclub or dive you caught his act in, no matter what spot he was playing that night, you were going to get a great show. I knew Gaffney most for his time in the Hacienda Brothers with former Paladin Dave Gonzalez, who had set up a base of sorts in my hometown of Tucson. The Hacienda Brothers played a ton of gigs there, and seemed to be making a move towards some sort of notoriety outside of the southwestern circuit they were loyal to, but his illness made that sort of fame impossible again. Gaffney, a hard-working, talented, unassuming guy and great musician, was 58, and there's a site to help cover his truly ridiculous medical bills. [HelpGaff]

4:00 PM on Fri Apr 18 2008
By Dan Gibson
902 views, 1 comment

Latest by Ned Raggett: Read about this this morning -- very sad news, especially since he lived in the same town as me; I knew his name more than his music but he always sounded like an all right guy, and it's a shame more »

videodrone

Roots Resurrect Hendrix (Or At Least Wyclef) On "The Colbert Report"


Ok, so "The Roots" played "The Star-Spangled Banner" on The Colbert Report last night, right? Only it was ?uestlove, a touring bassist who joined less than a year ago, and a guitarist who signed on in 2003. Call me old-fashioned, but it just ain't the Roots without Kamal playing keyboard ostinatos and somebody beatboxing on top. If you want a tribute to Woodstock, why not just let Wyclef and will.i.am (I'm sure he knows how to play bass) join ?uestlove in some sort of left-leaning rap supergroup? Call it WQW! The Black Root 'Gees! Probama! [Comedy Central]

1:30 PM on Wed Apr 16 2008
By Anthony Miccio
242 views, 6 comments

Latest by GhostOfDuane: Roots also do a badass Machine Gun jam. more »

videodrone

Rik Cordero Antagonizes Feminist Film Theory With "Birthday Girl" Video


Rik Cordero's video for the Roots' rejected Patrick Stump cameo single is confusing. While it's appropriately set at a birthday party, the logic seems to stop there. More »

9:30 AM on Wed Apr 16 2008
By Kate Richardson
576 views, 11 comments

human resources

John Varvatos Is Keeping It Real

The clothing designer's hiring policy for his brand-new store, located in the former location of CBGB, is allegedly trying to keep the space true to its roots: "All the staff they're hiring for the store are musicians in their other lives... He's really trying to keep the space about music." Why do I have the feeling "musicians in their other lives" is code for "looks like a not-as-well-nourished Julian Casablancas?" Oh, if only G.G. Allin was still around to put in an application. [Gatecrasher / Pic via Racked]

8:45 AM on Tue Apr 15 2008
By Maura Johnston
177 views, 4 comments

Latest by Cassiel: I dressed exactly like Minnie Pearl for my interview and they still wouldn't hire me. Posers. more »

The posters for Erykah Badu's upcoming tour have somehow managed to be almost as arresting as the album said tour will be supporting—not a small feat, given that New Amerykah Vol. 1 is crazy good. Check out the posters for her shows in Israel and Nigeria, and click the Moscow poster at left for the full itinerary for her May-June jaunt, which features a lot of dates with the Roots. [SoulBounce]

5 comments

everybody's a winner

Feist Feels The Weight Of Toting Around Five Juno Statues

Starbucks fave and allegedly swoonworthy singer-songwriter Feist was the big winner at last night's Juno Awards—you know, the Grammys of Canada?—sweeping the Single of the Year, Album of the Year, and Pop Album Year categories and taking home the awards for Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year as well. But the fans were not having any of it, handing Michael Bublé his only award of the night through voting on the Juno Web site. Yeah, you tell them what side of the smooth-music coin you like, people of Canada! Full list of winners—which is absent of the words "Avril," "Lavigne," and "Celine," but does have Finger Eleven and Ozzy Osbourne—after the jump. More »

9:15 AM on Mon Apr 7 2008
By Maura Johnston
439 views, 13 comments

Latest by MrStarhead: @tigerpop: And I want to know when Tanya Donelly started rapping! more »

sometimes at night, i hear cisco's laugh in the distance

I Specifically Asked For Less Cisco Adler, Not More


Why, why, why? I managed to largely ignore Cisco Adler's first push from the gutters of the Sunset Strip into mainstream America, only for him to appear singing hooks on an awful track he produced for a rapper from Malibu? Whatever I've done, God, I'm sorry. For reals, this time. More »

12:30 PM on Thu Apr 3 2008
By Dan Gibson
311 views, 3 comments

misplaced nostalgia

Don Henley Feels For Young Celebs, Unsurprisingly Thinks Things Were Better Back In The Day

Stars today don't know how to deal with life in the fast lane, says Don Henley. "A lot of these people aren't getting the guidance that they should be getting because managers don't want to rock the boat. They don't want to say something to the golden goose that may make the golden goose fire them. They're reluctant to tell these kids the truth, which is, 'You need to go to f—-ing rehab now.'" Evidently out-of-control drug habits weren't a problem in the seventies. More »

4:50 PM on Wed Apr 2 2008
By Anthony Miccio
495 views, 5 comments

Latest by okiedoke: Oh, that's right. Blame the manager for the tracks on the arm and the holes in the septum. And marketing the lifestyle issues that some of their fans eagerly emulated. I guess they weren't middle or working class enough, and more »

Snoop Dogg will co-headline 311's annual Summer Unity Tour this summer, a long-running jam that has featured such collegiate favorites as the Roots, Matisyahu, and OAR. It's good to see that, despite distractions like a reality show, a movie career, and a vocoder, Snoop hasn't forgotten about those kids just getting into the sticky-icky. [Reuters/Photo: AP]

Comment

push play and record in a major chord

I Don't Think I Fit Into Chris Cornell's Indie World

Chris Cornell, indie-rocker. While discussing his turgid, bowel-stirring rendition of "Billie Jean," recently jacked on American Idol, Cornell revealed just how much street cred he was risking. "I stuck my neck out being a guy that comes from the indie rock world doing a Michael Jackson song. You can clearly see that the judges are giving this guy credit for it on national television. My fans were like, 'Wait a minute! That's Chris Cornell's moment.'" Your indie rock fans, Chris? More »

11:00 AM on Tue Apr 1 2008
By Anthony Miccio
1,498 views, 15 comments

Latest by antistar2000: Yeah, everyone that trashed Audioslave(usually people who only heard the singles and never saw them live) have helped with the demise Cornell's career. Way to go, music experts. You probably won't ever hear him sing again after more »

calling out of context

"NME" Still Trying To Make Up For That "Led Zeppelin Playing Bonnaroo" Gaffe

Back when the Bonnaroo lineup was announced, the NME plastered its Web site with announcements that Led Zeppelin would be playing the Tennessee festival—an announcement that was occasioned by the press release noting that the all-female Zep tribute band Lez Zeppelin was on the bill. Such are the perils of being the world's fastest music news service, right? Well, the breathless British tabloid is still convinced that the band will, in fact, play again, despite Robert Plant reportedly turning down a huge reunion-tour payday. And it's not afraid to take out-of-context quotes from a Led Zeppelin story running in its sister publication Uncut and place them in front of fun-house mirrors for not one story, but two, in order to prove its point. More »

12:00 PM on Fri Mar 28 2008
By Maura Johnston
753 views, 3 comments

Latest by Chris N.: Which of Page's nuts is electrified? more »

reworkings

Patrick "The White Akon" Stump Yanked From Roots Album

You didn't want the worst, you didn't get the worst! The Roots have caved to public disgust and removed "Birthday Girl," their collabo with omnipresent Fall Out Boy troubadour Patrick Stump, from their upcoming album Rising Down. "Birthday Girl" is still the album's first international single, but it's been reduced to "iTunes-only" status in America. I don't really see what makes the song so heinous. It might be a little Sublime for hardcore fans of the band, but if it lacks crossover potential, it's due to the Roots' milquetoast albatross Black Thought, not Stump (ladies on YouTube seem to like the track just fine). If the vocal was credited to Cody ChesnuTT, would the Internet have been so put off? [Nah Right / Photo: AP]

3:45 PM on Wed Mar 26 2008
By Anthony Miccio
653 views, 5 comments

Latest by GhostOfDuane: the roots show i was at recently didn't look all that different from a fall out boy show, except the pants that all the white folks wore were marginally baggier. and that was at the apollo! more »

next little things

Greezy Balls, Lonesome Thugs, Orlando Christians, Timid Midwestern Roots Schlock, And "Scotland's Only Tank Regiment"

Each week, dozens of songs and albums from up and coming (or just plain unknown) bands debut on the pop charts. Some of these bands will never be heard from again; some of them may become the next little thing. That's why every two weeks Chuck Eddy will be exploring the world of Billboard's Heatseekers and Hot Shots, looking for diamonds in the MySpace rough. In this installment he tracks a Miami rapper with a questionable crotch, religious goth-rockers scheduled to play a Salvation Army (possibly near you!), a military pipe and drum band that now shares a label with Slim Shady, a chubby reggae quartet, and many more: More »

11:10 AM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Chuck Eddy
669 views, 9 comments

Latest by rocknrollwife: I can personally vouch that Sammy Llannas is an ass. As is Brian Ritchie. It seems that they got a sniff of RocknRoll respectibility and they get all uppity. Its not schadenfreude either; those two are really more »

listening station

Tut Tut Is Watching Every Move You Make

My knowledge about Kansas City/DC's Tut Tut is scant at best—I found them through WPRB's Facebook page. This sort of stumbling around makes me love the Internet! Tut Tut are firmly rooted in the Elephant 6 aesthetic (this shit never dies, huh?), and frontman/band mastermind Alex Abros' vocals suggest many heavy sessions listening to the Magnetic Fields. The flaws in production keep this from sounding hopelessly devoted to their reference points, as well as retain its own appeal. With that said, when Tut Tut manages to get the mix just right, as in "Pins On Your Purse," the payoff is big—a well-worn groove accented by ukelele and classical guitar plucks, strings as wide and open as the midwestern skies and a catchy chorus that sticks in your head. [Myspace / Facebook / Iron Paw Records]

4:00 PM on Tue Mar 18 2008
By Maria T Sciarrino
58 views, Comment

lineups

Mile High Festival Hopes To Differentiate Itself From The Pack By Having Dave Matthews, John Mayer On Its Bill

If it's Tuesday, it's time to find out about the latest entrant into the more-crowded-than-ever 2008 festival lineup! Say hello to the brand-new Mile High Music Festival, which is headlined by Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty, and John Mayer; it's scheduled to take place July 19 and 20 in a park that's nine miles outside of downtown Denver. (For those of you marking calendars, yes, that's the same weekend as the Pitchfork Music Festival. So much for Petty playing Full Moon Fever on Friday night in Chicago!) The current announced lineup—which, be warned, bills OneRepublic above the Roots—after the jump. More »

2:00 PM on Tue Mar 18 2008
By Maura Johnston
2,472 views, 9 comments

Latest by nothinginbetween: to everyone who commented negatively on the mile high festival, i'm truly disappointed in you. if you're so uninterested in such a concert, why the hell would you bash it? wow... cowards is all i have to say. more »