Billboard News
- Iggy and the Stooges, Scientists Power Up ATP New York - All Tomorrow's Parties kicks off in the Catskills with Iggy and the Stooges, Sleep, Mudhoney and Scientists.
- Kanye West Bares All on Twitter: 'I Wrote a Song for Taylor Swift' - "She had no idea what hit her," West said of Swift. "She's justa lil girl with dreams like the rest of us."
- Anberlin Frontman Juggles Grad School with Music - "I doubt this band will be around in 10 years, and there needs to be something that I can fall back on," says Anberlin frontman Stephen Christian of pursuing an MBA in psychology.
- Top 20 Tweets of the Week: 9/4/2010 - Here's our round-up of singers', rockers' and rappers' 20 coolest and funnest tweets from the past seven days. Be sure to tag @billboarddotcom to your favorite music retweets (and don't forget to follow us!)
- Kara DioGuardi Leaving 'American Idol' - Ending weeks of speculation, Kara DioGuardi and Fox announced late Friday (Sept. 3) that she would be departing as a judge on "American Idol" after two seasons.
- Billboard Bits: Lady Gaga Poses as Lady Liberty, Rihanna Premiering New Single - Rihanna dropping new single next week, Lady Gaga poses as Lady Liberty, Panic! at the Disco take on Broadway, and more.
- Rosanne Cash Talks New Memoir, Relationship with Father - In an interview with Billboard, Rosanne Cash talks about her relationship with her father and reflects on her transition from a country hitmaker to a more introspective singer-songwriter.
- Eminem As the Riddler? Re-Casting 'Batman' with Rappers - Eminem has been a superhero on the Hot 100 chart lately, but apparently he's ready to return to the silver screen as a villain in the next "Batman" movie. According to the National Enquirer, Em rhymed to his reps, "When it comes to business, you know I ain't no fiddler... You tell them Batman biggies, I wanna play The Riddler!"
- Ask Billboard: Familiar Titles In Top 10 - An eagle-eyed chart watcher notes that last week, four titles ranked in the Hot 100's top 10 after previously charting by different artists.
- Kings of Leon Talks 'Radioactive' Single, Reveals Album Tracklist - As anticipation grows for Kings Of Leon's "Come Around Sundown" -- the follow-up to its massively successful "Only By The Night" album -- the band has been gradually letting fans in on details of the new record.
Rock&Roll Daily
Music News
- PSSSSST…. Be the First to Test Out MOG Music Network’s New Mag -
To all existing Moggers and first-time visitors, MOG Inc. is proud to announce that we have launched a beta version of the all-new MOG Music Network (MMN). It's an up-to-the-minute digest showcasing the most insightful, exciting, and hilarious music writing in the world, as leveraged from the 1,200 music blogs that constitute our network, in addition to our own in-house news, reviews and features. MOG's participating network of blogs generate now generate more than 20 million monthly unique visitors, so we felt compelled to give it a cool new home...
MOG.com will still focus on its explosive music listening service, while MOGMusicNetwork.com will be the editorial hub for the largest music network online. MMN's editors will work meticulously to bring you the Web's most important and influential voices, a slew of informed rants and raves from our own writers and editors, and exclusive videos, interviews, and MP3s that you won't see ANYWHERE else. So please, surf around and enjoy today's exclusive interview with Rufus Wainwright, MMN's list of the year's Top 20 Fails so far, the latest music news and gossip, and the hottest audio and video from your favorite artists. We'd love some feedback, friends. Hit us up with your thoughts, questions, suggestions and concerns as we evolve at musiceditor@mog.com.
- Band of the Day (08.04.10): FREDDIE GIBBS -
Who?
Born Freddie Tipton, Freddie Gibbs is heavily tipped to be hip-hop's next big thing. Part of a wave of artists that were mishandled by major labels before finding success on the mixtape circuit, Gibbs has been inescapable this past year if you've been following underground hip-hop. After spending several years under contract with Interscope (as well as a mysterious ghostwriting gig at Sony), Gibbs burst onto the scene last year with his first mixtape, The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs, featuring a flow that owed more to '90s hip-hop than his contemporaries while still speaking to today's audience. After much anticipation, Gibbs' first proper release, the Str8 Killa EP, finally came out this week.
And I Care Because?
- Not quite gangster, not quite underground. Though his style has drawn comparisons to rappers like 2Pac and T.I., it's evident that Gibbs has drawn equal inspiration from forward-thinking southern hip-hop like UGK and OutKast, creating his own potent concoction that, despite his current underground status, is poised to be the next big thing.
- He's repping Indiana. Hip-hop extending its boundaries is nothing new, but few - if any - people would think Indiana had a solid hip-hop scene. Regardless, Gibbs is the first breakout from the growing scene in Gary, Indiana, an impoverished area that he finds his inspiration in while still managing to make it universal.
- All Killa, no filler. On his first official studio release, Gibbs doesn't make a single misfire, instead creating track after track of solid, catchy hip-hop, anchored by the single "National Anthem (Fuck the World)." Already featuring co-signs on the EP from both Bun B and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, it's astounding to think this is just an appetizer before the main course arrives.
Stream Str8 Killa, buy his albums, and download his outstanding Str8 Killa companion mixtape for free.
- Band of the Day (08.03.10): GEORGE CLINTON -
Who?
The living embodiment of funk, George Clinton has been an active part of the music world for over half a century, starting with a mildly successful doo-wop group. More importantly, Clinton became a countercultural icon on the strength of his work with the pyschedelic Funkadelic, followed by the ultra-funky Parliament (later changed to Parliament-Funkadelic). After the group and its various iterations dissolved, Clinton went solo and scored '80s hits including "Atomic Dog." Currently, he's still touring with an ever-shifting Parliament-Funkadelic lineup and releasing solo albums, most recently 2008's George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love.
And I Care Because?
- Make your funk the P-Funk. There is likely no one as influential to funk music as George Clinton, with his insane ideas about both groove and the now-standard sci-fi allusions of funk leaving its mark on everyone that's made a funky beat since the '70s. If that wasn't enough, he's had an equally large influence on hip-hop, particularly the G-Funk of acts like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg as well as the otherwordly imagery of OutKast.
- Who says a funk band can't play rock music? Clinton's work under the Funkadelic name specifically is incredible and far more rock than it is funk. By embracing psych-rock to the fullest on the stone-cold classic Maggot Brain, Clinton injected a whole lot of soul into a genre that needed it.
- Still crazy after all these years. Though his recorded output in the last couple decades has been spotty at best, we should be thankful to still have Clinton and his P-Funk in our lives at this stage in his life. While you never know what will happen in the future, a Clinton stage show is something to be cherished while you have the chance.
Stream Mothership Connection, buy his albums, and watch his classic video for "Atomic Dog."
Music News
- Second Shows Added: New Zealand/Australia - U2 360° Tour Announces Sell Out Performances in Australia and New Zealand. Second Shows Added.
- 'Incredible People...' - Hands up,' sings Bono, during I Will Follow. 'Hands up' as the band return to Greece for the first time since the PopMart tour of 1997.
- Follow U2360 in Athens - Coming to the show in Athens or planning to follow online tonight ?
- NZ/Aus Tickets On Sale - Want tickets for the upcoming shows in New Zealand and Australia ? Public onsales are about to being. Links here.
- Every Breaking Wave in Vienna - Monday night in Vienna and attendance records broken at the Ernst Happel Stadium. 'That's very rock'n'roll of you…'
U2 News
- Minds of the Music Biz: Ted Cohen - Music Industry Newswire COLUMN: Ted Cohen is considered a visionary in music and technology, and I agree. After all, he played an important role in devising the licensing agreements that helped create the Rhapsody subscription ...
- EASTWEST Announces TERAPACK Trial Program – Entire Libraries on one Hard Drive - HOLLYWOOD, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — EASTWEST, the industry leader in virtual software instruments announces the TERAPACK, the company’s entire collection on a terabyte hard drive with free 10-day trial versions of all products. The ...
- Neil Peart Drums Volume 1: The Kit is Now Available for Kontakt - SUNRISE, Fla. /Music Industry Newswire/ — Sonic Reality announced today that their new Neil Peart series drum sample instrument library, Neil Peart Drums Volume 1: The Kit, is shipping in the NI Kontakt-compatible edition (requires ...
- Native Instruments Announces TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 - Berlin, Germany /Music Industry Newswire/ – Native Instruments today announced TRAKTOR KONTROL S4, an integrated DJ system with state-of-the-art performance capabilities and intuitive tactile control. Based on ten years of digital DJing expertise, TRAKTOR KONTROL ...
- EASTWEST Releases THE DARK SIDE Virtual Instrument - HOLLWOOD, Calif. /Music Industry Newswire/ — EASTWEST, an industry leader in virtual software instruments has released THE DARK SIDE, created and produced by Doug Rogers and David Fridmann, THE DARK SIDE is the first of ...
