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‘Voice’ Coaches Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton Set For ‘Footloose’ Soundtrack

Robbie Daw — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:30:57 +0000

Twenty-seven years ago, box office smash Footloose turned Kevin Bacon into a star, while the big screen musical-drama’s soundtrack spawned hits in the forms of Kenny Loggin’s title song, Deniece Williams’ “Let’s Hear It For The Boy,” Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero” and Mike Reno and Ann Wilson’s “Almost Paradise.” Those pop classics remain on the upcoming movie remake’s soundtrack, so head below to find out who’s singing them!

It turns out that Voice coach Blake Shelton, who is riding high with his recent #1 album Red River Blue, kicked off his Sunday shoes by covering ’80s soundtrack king Loggins’ chart-topping “Footloose” single. That said, it looks like “I’m Free (Heaven Helps The Man),” another Kenny composition from the original soundtrack, did not make the cut for the new movie.

Cee Lo Green is strangely paired up with blues rock singer Kenny Wayne Shepard for a song called “Walkin’ Blues” (not on the original film’s soundtrack). Then again, Shelton’s fellow Voice coach has been branching out into various music genres lately, so perhaps it’s not such an odd pairing?

Tyler’s “Holding Out For A Hero” gets a makeover courtesy of 15-year-old South Carolina native Ella Mae Bowen, while Friday Night Lights actress Jana Kramer, who’s now taken up a career as a — you guessed it — country singer covers Williams’ “Let’s Hear It For The Boy.”

As for “Almost Paradise,” Victorious starlet Victoria Justice and 20-year-old country singer-songwriter Hunter Hayes belt out the love ballad originally made famous by Heart’s Ann Wilson and Loverboy’s Mike Reno.

Footloose stars Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid, and it hits theaters on October 14.

Here’s the full 2011 soundtrack:

1. “Footloose” – Blake Shelton
2. “Where The River Goes” – Zac Brown
3. “Little Lovin’” – Lissie
4. “Holding Out For A Hero” – Ella Mae Bowen
5. “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” – Jana Kramer
6. “So Sorry Mama” – Whitney Duncan
7. “Fake I.D.” – Big & Rich feat. Gretchen Wilson
8. “Almost Paradise” – Victoria Justice & Hunter Hayes
9. “Walkin’ Blues” – Cee Lo Green feat. Kenny Wayne Shepherd
10. “Window Paine” – The Smashing Pumpkins
11. “Suicide Eyes” – A Thousand Horses
12. “Dance The Night Away” – David Banner

[Via EW Music Mix]

How Much Did Daft Punk’s ‘87 Ferrari Sell For In That Japan Charity Auction, Anyway?

Robbie Daw — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:46:28 +0000

EMI has issued a press release that features some results of its charity auction for Japan disaster relief, in which the label says over 200 artists participated by donating personal items and memorabilia. Altogether, the label says its roster helped raise $940,000 for the Red Cross to use in supporting those affected by last month’s earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. Head below to see just how much Chris Martin’s jacket, Katy Perry’s cupcake trampoline (!!) and Daft Punk’s 1987 Ferrari featured in Electroma went for.

EMI points out that the auctioned items (which were up on eBay as of April 5) raised $470,000, with the label itself doubling that amount for the grand total of $940,000.

Here’s how things shook out with some of the items:

* Original Jane Birken handbag: $163,000
* Daft Punk’s 1987 Ferrari: almost $42,000
* Deadmau5’s diamante costume head: $19,000
* Steinway grand piano used by Bono and Eric Clapton: $14,878
* Jacket worn on stage by Chris Martin: $14,060
* Private dinner with Herbert Grönemeyer: $10,792
* Signed copies of David Bowie’s entire catalog: $10,138
* Handwritten “God Only Knows” lyrics by Brian Wilson & Platinum album for Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds: $7,643
* A day on tour with Simple Minds: $6,891
* Handmade “ZERO” shirt worn by the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan: $6,744
* Original painting from Iron Maiden: $6,466
* Cupcake trampoline used by Katy Perry on her current tour: $5,075
* Signed guitar offered by Japanese musician Miyavi $8,992

Admit it, you wanted that cupcake trampoline, too, didn’t you?

Win The ‘Vampire Diaries’ Season One Soundtrack/DVD!

Idolator Staff — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:55:12 +0000

Attention all Vampire Diaries and music fans: we’re giving away a Season One prize pack to one lucky person this week! So, if you thirst for vampire drama — and you dig Sky Ferreira’s new hit “Obsession” and Goldfrapp’s “We Radiate” — just follow the instructions below and that lucky person could be you.

ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

Receive Vampire Diaries: The Complete First Season DVD and the Original Television Soundtrack: The Vampire Diaries CD

HOW TO ENTER:

Head to Idolator on Facebook and add us as a friend (if you aren’t already).
Then tweet this message — I have an “Obsession” with ‘Vampire Diaries’! @idolator, give me the Season 1 prize CD/DVD prize pack http://bit.ly/aH9VFn
Deadline to enter is Thursday, October 7 at 11:59pm. We’ll be contacting tentative winners via Facebook message on Friday morning (keep an eye on your inbox)!
Then 1 winner will be selected at random on Friday, October 8.

Original Television Soundtrack: The Vampire Diaries serves up a biting mix of exclusive tracks unavailable elsewhere:

• “Stefan’s Theme” – Mike Suby
• “Running Up That Hill” – Placebo
• “Currency of Love” – Silversun Pickups
• “Hammock” – Howls
• “Sleep Alone (909s in the DarkTimes Mix)” – Bat for Lashes
• “Bloodstream (Vampire Diaries Remix)” – Stateless
• “We Radiate” – Goldfrapp
• “Obsession” – Sky Ferreira
• “Head Over Heels” – Digital Daggers
• “Down” – Jason Walker
• “Beauty of the Dark” – Mads Langer
• “Cut” – Plumb
• “All You Wanted” – Sounds Under Radio featuring Alison Sudol of A Fine Frenzy
• “The Fellowship” – Smashing Pumpkins
• “On Melancholy Hill (Feed Me Remix)” – Gorillaz
• “1864″ – Mike Suby

The Original Television Soundtrack: The Vampire Diaries, featuring the hit single “Obsession” by Sky Ferreira (below), is available now on preorder and everywhere October 12th

Vampire Diaries: The Complete First Season is available on Blu-ray™ and DVD now.

MTV’s VMA Video Of The Year: A Look Back At The 1990s

Erika Brooks Adickman — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:40:42 +0000

With MTV’s VMAs just three days away, we’ve almost cracked the code on our predictions for who will take home the title of 2010’s Video Of The Year. As our VMA retrospective moves on to the 1990s, we’ve noticed that while some vids received the recognition they deserved, others were over looked thanks in large part to Will Smith. Jump below for another surprising look at the winners and losers from ‘90-’99—do you remember who beat out Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1992?

1990: Sinead O’ Connor — “Nothing Compares 2 U”

While it’s undoubtedly one of the best music videos of the decade, we couldn’t believe that Sinead managed to beat out Madonna’s “Vogue”— a vid that had more nominations than any other music video that year!

1991: R.E.M. — “Losing My Religion”

This seems like the obvious choice over C+C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”, Deee-Lite’s “Groove Is In The Heart”, Queensryche’s “Silent Lucidity” and The Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself”. Good job MTV!

1992: Van Halen — “Right Now”

“Right Now” still stands as one of our favorite music videos ever, but watching it almost 20 years later it feels dated. Where as N irvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (also nominated for Video Of The Year) seems to somehow capture an entire movement—grunge—with one five-minute video. It’s less like a time capsule and more like time traveling all the way back to 1992.

1993: Pearl Jam — “Jeremy”

“Jeremy” was awarded four MTV Video Music Awards that year for the disturbing tale of a troubled child. Aerosmith’s “Livin’ On The Edge” and En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” (which won three VMAs that year including Best R&B Video and Best Dance Video) just couldn’t compete with Pearl Jam. But Aerosmith’s time would come the following year.

1994: Aerosmith — “Cryin’”

Sorry Spike Jonze (who lost for the Beastie Boys’ “Sabatoge”), but nothing was ever going to beat Alicia Silverstone getting her belly pierced and then bungee jumping off of a bridge.

1995: TLC — “Waterfalls”

We have no idea how MTV was able to come to a decision on video of the year when TLC’s competitors were Green Day’s “Basket Case”, Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson’s “Scream” and Weezer’s “Buddy Holly”. Poor Spike Jonze was snubbed again!

1996: The Smashing Pumpkins — “Tonight, Tonight”

There was some stiff competition in 1996 with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony “Tha Crossroads”, Foo Fighters’ hilarious Mentos commercial parody “Big Me”, Alanis Morissette’s classic, simple “Ironic”—which we named one of the best music videos of the 90s. Still, nothing could top the Smashing Pumpkins’ homage to Georges Méliès’s silent film A Trip to the Moon.

1997: Jamiroquai — “Virtual Insanity”

We can see how easy it must have been for MTV vote Jamiroquai’s mind-bending, futuristic video that made us all say, “How’d they do that?!” over Jewel’s “You Were Meant For Me”. However, figuring out how to decide between “Virtual Insanity”, Nine Inch Nails’ “The Perfect Drug” and No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”, yikes! We’re glad that job wasn’t left up to us or we would still be deliberating some 13 years later.

1998: Madonna — “Ray Of Light”

Here’s where MTV started to get confused between a great music video, and one that had been voted up the ranks on TRL. Take for example Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy Is Mine”, did it deserve a nom for Video Of The Year over Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” or Bjork’s “Bachelorette”—both directed by the irreverent Michel Gondry? And we won’t even bring up the fact that both “Karma Police” and Fiona Apple’s “Criminal” were overlooked for Will Smith’s “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”.

1999: Lauryn Hill — “Doo Wop (That Thing)”

Like the song, Lauryn Hill’s vid for “Doo Wop (That Thing)” was the perfect blend of retro and current. As for the other nominees Lauryn was up against that year, all we can say is that ‘99 was not a good year for music videos. MTV really had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to fill out the rest of this category. Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”? Will Smith w/ Dru Hill & Kool Moe Dee’s “Wild Wild West”? “Livin’ La Vida Loca”?! MTV you so crazy!

Do these selections make you want to whip your hair back and forth? Tell us what you think below.

The Smashing Pumpkins’ New Album To Be Something Of A Free-For-All

Maura — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:15:28 +0000

Billy Corgan just announced that the forthcoming Smashing Pumpkins album, Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, will be a 44-track (!) endeavor that will be released piecemeal over the coming months beginning in October—the songs will be released as four-track EPs, 11 in total. And for those of you who don’t really care about packaging and won’t be acquiring physical copies, the music will be completely free. No opt-ins, no mailing-list signups, no talking orangutans! Billy explains after the jump.

Recording began yesterday, September 15th, 2009 on the new record which will be entitled ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’. The album will feature 44 songs, 4 of which are now being recorded. My desire is to release a song at a time beginning around Halloween of this year, with each new release coming shortly after until all 44 are out. Each song will be made available absolutely for free, to anyone anywhere. There will be no strings attached. Free will mean free, which means you won’t have to sign up for anything, give an email address, or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish.

We will however sell highly limited edition EP’s (of 4 songs each times 11), and details of how those EP’s will be made available are still being worked out. Because the songs themselves will be free, the EP’s will be more like collectors items for the discerning fan who will want the art itself, along with the highest possible audio quality available. The EP’s will be more like mini-box sets rather than your normal cd single. We may also offer other variations for sale, say for example a digital single with a demo version of a song. The commitment that is most important is the one I’m making to you: that the music of ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’ will be available for free to everyone. All 44 songs: free for ALL.

When the entire album is finished, it will be compiled into a deluxe box set which will also be made available for sale. Those who have bought the EP’s need not worry, as the box set will not be a recompilation of the limited edition pieces.

Anyway, I’m most hopeful over Corgan’s note that “The music of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope harkens back to the original psychedelic roots of The Smashing Pumpkins: atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty.” Although surely I can’t be the only person who’s more than a bit curious if he’s actually going to finish the project; an 11-EP run sounds like one of those ideas that seems at the outset like a fine, if sorta-sprawling, idea only to become something of a pain as it grows in scope/scale. Sure, 53 songs are written, but editing is just as important of a part of any creative process…

Announcement From Billy Corgan About New Smashing Pumpkins Album [SmashingPumpkins.com; HT Hipsters United]

Smashing Pumpkins Speak On Their New Little Drummer Boy: “Things Are Going Well”

Maura — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:00:12 +0000

Earlier this week, speculation that the Smashing Pumpkins had found a brand-new, pretty young drummer–19-year-old Oregonian Mike Byrne of the mathy outfit Moses, Smell The Roses–made its way around the Internet, with a couple of errant Tweets and MySpace messages from Byrne and his Pacific Northwest associates fueling the flames. The band’s official site has decided to put rumor mill to rest, and let people know just why, exactly, Byrne has flown the coop to “pumpkin camp” for the next few weeks:

Speculation has been running rampant across the internet and airwaves today due to a few posts that have appeared online (HipstersUnited.com | SP.com) regarding the young drummer Mike Byrne.

SP.com can finally announce that Billy has been working with young (19) Mike Byrne on demos. Word from the studio is that Mike is an exceptionally talented and gifted drummer and things are going very well.

And that is that.

And here is a compilation of Byrne’s drumming on the very same site. Helpful!

some information regarding drummer mike byrne [smashingpumpkins.com]
Earlier: Smashing Pumpkins’ Alleged New Drummer Was About A Year Old When Gish Came Out

La Búsqueda De La Música Mexicana: Part 2

Kate Richardson — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:00:01 +0000

Amigos, it’s been two months since our first expedition south of the border in search of Mexican music. Now that we’ve shaken off the mezcal hangover, it’s time to return to Mexico lindo y querido to have a look-see at two smart alt-rock bands that defy the multiple Mexican stereotypes I (impressively, no?) have managed to disseminate in this very brief introduction.

Café Tacuba have been around since 1989, and their self-titled debut came out in 1992. It included “Pinche Juan”:

This is a handy introduction to the band, as it shows off their hyperactive musical style and sense of irreverence. “Pinche” is a term in Mexican Spanish which means, more or less, “fucking” (as an adjective, not a gerund-participle), or “goddamn,” but it is much more fun to use than either of its English equivalents. Try it sometime! For instance, when your computer crashes: “Pinche hard drive!” When your cat pees on the rug: “Pinch gato!” Anyway, pinche is a fun word and “Pinche Juan” is a fun song, if a bit too full-throttle for my delicate sensibilities.

“La ingrata”–off their second album, Re–retains the aggressive vibe, but not without a knowing smirk and considerable intelligence:

Lead singer Rubén Albarrán’s bright red hair and confrontational gestures may suggest run-of-the-mill alt-rock angry dude, but the jacked up polka beat in the background belies this first impression and suggests an inspired reinterpretation of the conjunto norteño genre. And while Albarrán’s snarling vocals certainly give the band a distinctive–some might say grating?–edge, he also knows how to bring it down a notch, as in this cover of Leo Dan’s “Cómo te extraño mi amor”:

And “Mediodía,” from 2003’s Grammy-winning Cuatro Caminos:

And the ’60s-tinged “Quiero ver.” from 2007’s Sino:

And, going back to their high-energy snarly sound, “Eo” from Cuatro Caminos is bouncy and endearing:

What makes Café Tacuba so interesting–aside from their crafty musicianship–is that they incorporate uniquely Mexican sounds and lyrics into the broader alt-rock template. Albarrán’s nasaly approach may not be for everyone, but any band with a song called “Pinche Juan” is OK in my book.

As for the newer wave of Mexican alt-rockers, Austin TV is the kind of band that inspires use of the “post-” prefix in descriptions. They’re instrumental, fairly earnest, and into costumes. And really, they’re not bad.

“Marduk” from their latest album, Fontana Bella, sums them up pretty well:

Gloomy and ominous, then loud and thrashy, but not without the kind of smart nuances which are crucial to staying afloat inprecarious genre; get too noodly and self-indulgent and you risk losing your audience. Luckily Austin TV, though still obviously a young band with rough edges, seems to know how to walk that line just right, and their music is a real find for those with the temperament for instrumental post-rock.

“Shiva” from Fonta Bella:

I was so-so on this song until the handclaps came in. Touché!

“Roy Rogers,” from their debut La última noche del mundo:

While I think Austin TV certainly has a lot up its sleeve, they seem a bit immature at this point. They should be looking over their shoulders at Ponytail to see what exactly they’re up against in the rookie post-rock instrumental band league. Then again, did Ponytail ever inventively cover “Tonight, Tonight” while wearing sinister bunny masks?

Not that I know of.

Smashing Pumpkins’ (Alleged) New Drummer Was About A Year Old When “Gish” Came Out

Maura — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:00:40 +0000

Billy Corgan’s Internet-wide search for a new drummer has apparently ended, and according to Smashing Pumpkins fan blog Hipsters United a (pretty) young man has emerged victorious: Mike Byrne, the 19-year-old drummer/”demoralizer” for the Oregon band Moses, Smell The Roses. There’s been no formal announcement yet, but Byrne did say that he was “off for another couple of weeks at pumpkin camp” on his MySpace page yesterday, and Moses collaborator Ben Spees referred to him as the “drummer of the future” on Twitter. That’s practically a confirmation, right?

Judging by the tracks posted to the Moses MySpace page, Byrne certainly has the rapidfire chops to keep up with Corgan’s rhythmic twists and turns; the band’s got a sort of garage-prog thing going on, and it cites bands like Battles and the Octopus Project among its influences (alongside Keyboard Cat). Oh, and Animal Collective! This will do wonders for the Pumpkins’ bloggability, I can already tell.

Smashing Pumpkins, The Next Generation?: 19-year-old Mike Byrne in position to succeed Chamberlin as band’s drummer [Hipsters United]

Billy Corgan’s Long, Slow Heel Turn Continues

Maura — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Billy Corgan has turned a snippet of the Smashing Pumpkins‘ alt-rock staple “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” into a spoken-word bit that will serve as the intro to this Sunday’s Total Nonstop Action Wrestling pay-per-view Lockdown, which will feature a bunch of matches confined to a six-sided cage. (Yes, the lyrics have been altered to fit the cage’s dimensions.) Honestly, the most surprising thing about this development is finding out that Kevin Nash is somehow still able to move around a wrestling ring, despite tearing his quads approximately 53 times over the course of his career. The promo—and a recut video for the song featuring wrestlers appearing in the PPV—after the jump.

Corgan and TNA have actually collaborated before, but I have to say, this little bit of promo-cutting makes me think that his heel turn of recent months will culminate in something that lures him into the ring on Sunday night. (NB: I am not going to shell out $30 to see if this happens.) Here’s the new music video!

Lockdown Promo With Billy Corgan [IGN; HT Hipsters United]

Mike Barthel — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Look, I’m not going to try to explain Billy Corgan anymore. In his latest missive, he contemplates recording a 44-track album released one track at a time and accompanied by a film, justifies his continued use of the Pumpkins moniker for a solo project in terms a reality show contestant might use (”I committed myself 100 pct”), refers to himself as a “baby faced killa,” and expresses his hope that “from this day forward this group will represent nothing but love and light” without any plausible justification for doing so. Maybe he should take a couple of years off, you know? [MySpace]