Every year I look at the nominations and winners, and I have the same thought, “It can’t get worse than last year.” Yet somehow it always does. The 2010 Grammys didn’t let me down – which is to say, they did. Instead of going item by item in an effort to prove, as I stated last August, that the NARAS doesn’t know shit about music, I will just dissect the few categories I find to…
For the second week in a row, the number one album in America is a bit of a shocker: Hope for Haiti, the MTV compilation from January 22’s broadcast, sold 171,000 copies. Oh, and they were all sold in two days (Saturday and Sunday). And they were all sold digitally. This means that independently-distributed albums were No. 1 in consecutive weeks. It’s also the first time in five years that the first three “tracking weeks”…
So the indie hipster four-piece (hey, c’mon, even the fans have to admit it’s an apt description) had the number one album this week by moving 124,000 units. While the achievement is impressive, some of the surrounding stats are more so: VW is one of 14 musical acts to have a number one album without a song in the Hot 100 – a list that includes Pantera, Bob Newhart, and N.W.A. VW’s debut album returns…
So Billy put up a second song on the band’s myspace page from the upcoming (guaranteed clusterfuck catastrophe) Teargarden by Kaleidyscope album / series of EPs / whatever the hell it is. Much like the first one released – “A Song for a Son” – the newest Pumpkins track, “Window Wake My Mind,” bears little resemblance to any prior SP endeavors. I suspect it has something to with the fact that the Pumpkins aren’t actually…
Yes, someone took the famous whistle-hook and added it to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” It actually makes the latter listenable. I know, it’s shocking. The creator, Party Ben, is known for his, let’s say, interesting mashups. He’s probably best known for throwing together “Teen Spirit” and “Harder Better” (which can be downloaded here) and his “Boulevard of Broken Songs.” You can get the mp3 of the “Single Ladies” mashup here.
I remember the first time that I heard Megadeth’s “Head Crusher” last July. Within the first twenty seconds, I knew two things were true: Dave wrote the song and Andy Sneap mixed it. The former item is rather inconsequential, as I saw on youtube that it was indeed a Megadeth song. (Had it not been labeled, it still woulda been quite obvious…) But the second is not. In this, the beginning of 2010, the work…
Avenged Sevenfold’s drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, was found dead at age 28 at his home in Huntington Beach, California, on Monday. He supposedly died of natural causes, though his death was investigated by the coroner’s office and ruled “inconclusive.” Avenged Sevenfold is rather divisive in the metal community, mainly for its early “metalcore” output. Honestly, the band got better as they went on, especially when M. Shadows stopped screaming. It was pretty damned irritating….
“I don’t get Animal Collective.” So went a text from Mike, a friend and fellow music blogger/journalist of mine. On the surface it sounds as if Mike is rather narrow-minded. Yet, it really is quite the profound statement if you stop to consider it for a moment. There are days that I wonder that same idea, not just about AC but any artist I consider great or simply enjoy. But AC is one group in…
Charlie Clouser | “Hello Zepp” | 2004 The only truly great film in the “Saw” franchise is the first one; it usually is with horror. It only seems natural, then, that the best rendition of Charlie Clouser’s here-comes-the-giant-twist theme of the series is found in number one. Based off of the original version, “Zepp Overture,” “Hello Zepp” is so named because this reading of the song begins **spoiler alert** when Adam begins the Jigsaw tape…
Kanye West, Nas, KRS-One and Rakim | “Classic (Better Than I’ve Ever Been)” | 2007 The Aughts have been rather stingy with its worthwhile posse cut output. In fact, besides “Better Than I’ve Ever Been”* I can’t recall a notable example. It’s a shame, really. Posse cuts used to be a place where a half-dozen or more emcees could all rock the mic together – even while rapping about unrelated subject matter – and it…
Steve Lampiris