Day in Pop Report for 07/10/2014
MTV reports that attorneys for Bieber copped a plea in the case, agreeing for Bieber to plea no contest for the misdemeanor vandalism and agreeing to one year of probation, community service and cash to pay for the damage to the home. Bieber was charged in Los Angeles court at 1:30 p.m. PT. He was not present to hear the charges Wednesday (July 9). The news was originally reported early Wednesday that Bieber would be charged with a misdemeanor in the incident by CBS Los Angeles, among others. more on this story
In stark contrast, Blurred Lines sold about 177,000 units in its first week of release in the U.S., buoyed by last summer's smash hit of the same name, and about 26,000 first-week sales in the UK. That's a 98-percent cratering in UK sales because of Paula, according to the Guardian. In the U.S., Paula's first-week sales as compared to Blurred Lines is about an 84-percent sales decrease. more on this story
That scandal just cast a pall over UK musicians and other celebrities, including all four members of Arctic Monkeys. George Michael, Katie Melua and even Sir Michael Caine are caught up. According to the Times of London (via Gigwise), more than 1,600 people allegedly sheltered a collective �1.2 billion through the Liberty tax strategy in what the British newspaper calls "one of Britain's most aggressive tax avoidance schemes." more on this story
The Ontario native has been performing in Las Vegas since 2012 for her own show Shania: Still the One but she said time on the road may be in her future as she and her team are looking into dates next spring. "I think I'm going to do more," she told the Calgary Herald. "I guess it's just something I'm enjoying more now than I have in a long time. Vegas has been a really good transition for me to get back onstage again, and I guess I'm enjoying it. So why not do more?" So is new music also on the way? "It's my priority this year and I will be in the studio as soon as I can get in, get my ducks in a row - I'm working on it all the time right now," she said. "I've been writing for it for a long time now, I've got lots of things so it's really about putting the puzzle together now." more on this story
Peppy by Interpol's standards, of course; not peppy by, say, Miley Cyrus' standards. The black-and-white video, directed by frontman Paul Banks and collaborator Sophia Peer, finds the band performing the new song in a darkened room. Meanwhile, shots outside said room are spliced into the picture, featuring large, rushing waves. Those waves are traversed by the video's secondary star: a surfer, who has quite the skill, doing some acrobatics over the surges with nary a bobble. Watch the video here.
The official Song Reader website, which solicited fan-performed versions of the songs, said "Only you can bring Beck Hansen's Song Reader to life." But "you" is a very open term, and now a lot of rather big names - including Beck himself - will be recording their takes of the songs for an audio version of Song Reader. The list of contributors to the album include fun., Jack White, Jack Black, Tweedy (the new project by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and his son Spencer, Norah Jones, New York Dolls frontman David Johansen, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell and soul music legend Swamp Dogg. More including the track and contributor lists here.
The "Nick Of Time" - 25th Anniversary album was remastered from the original analogue tapes, overseen by both the albums producer, Don Was and engineer Ed Cherney and is being released on 180 gram heavyweight vinyl. "Personally, I think it may be the best record of my career" says Raitt. "Every record has its charm and its significance, but I think we finally got it right, I could finally say, 'Yeah, that's what I had in mind.' As a mixture of styles, reflected in one record, it was a really good version of what I do." "It's a particularly great batch of songs," says Raitt, "and the synchronicity of finding these songs when I did the emotional connection and the gratitude that I had to be given another shot I think that shows. It was kismet to have it come out this well." "The success of Nick Of Time brought me a level of freedom, and the opportunities to do everything I had wanted to do," says Raitt. "Nearly every gift in my life now is, in so many ways, because of what happened with that album and the Grammys. Definitely one of the greatest highlights of my life."
Retro Futura Tour 2014 will also include Ultravox's Midge Ure, China Crisis and Katrina (ex-Katrina And The Waves) and is set to kick off on August 21st in New York City. During the trek, Tom Bailey will perform Thompson Twins hits live for the first time in nearly three decades. Bailey had this to say, "This will be the first time I've sung the Thompson Twins' hits in decades. "It's taken a long time, but now I'm really looking forward to playing those songs to some of the fans that were there first time around." more on this story
The pair have amassed five tracks so far, according to MTV, and French Montana just previewed the first one on his Instagram. It sounds closer in spirit to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy than Yeezus. In the song snippet, an Auto-Tuned West sings over classical strings and a trap beat. The track could appear on French Montana's forthcoming album, Mac & Cheese 4, which is reportedly due out in November. Montana revealed to MTV, "I got Kanye on the album, I got will.i.am on the album, I've got Durk on the album and Chinx." more on this story
The British producer will work with Blige on an album tentatively called The London Sessions, with rumors swirling that a whole host of the best of the U.K.'s neo-soul performers and writers will appear as guests. No word on who those guests might be, but the mind immediately goes to one guy. Blige recently appeared in duet with the U.K.'s newest star Sam Smith on his track "Stay With Me." more on this story
Released today, "Rock Star," a new tune from the hip-hop megastars, is a version finally cleared by the camp of George Michael. Why? Because the song quite prominently borrows from Michael's 1984 hit "Careless Whisper." Most notably, "Rock Star" uses the classic melody laid down by the saxophone in the song, though the instrument is not found on the final version of Future and Minaj's piece. Instead, an electric guitar follows the sax part, as does Future's crooned chorus. Minaj jumps in after Future's first verse. "Special Olympics / I'mma go dumb on it," she rhymes in one of the less savory bars, ending each line with the words "on it" at first. Listen here.
"No More Lonely" was written by Elaine, Lee and Nashville hitmaker Steve Dean and the lyric video was produced by Sammy Passamano and includes teases of the forthcoming album. Sammy had this to say, "Lyric videos are becoming more and more popular all the time. They help fans connect with a song's message while creating an entertaining visual experience that further enhances the music." You can watch the new lyric video here Fans can also catch The Roys on the road this summer, including many high profile music festivals including Country Thunder, Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival, New Richmond Bluegrass Festival and more. more on this story
Daniel saying he will read the short story, "Of course I'll read it�I'm obviously going to read it." But, Daniel not as sure he would be interested in playing the older Harry Potter, "As far as I know Harry is 36 in those stories�I'm about to turn 25, I'm not sure if that's quite in my playing age yet." Radcliff admitting he doesn't really have an opinion in what happens to his Harry Potter character, "I never had an opinion on what should happen to the character, I'm watching with the rest of the world now, fascinated to see what she does with it." The actor was in NYC promoting his BBC TV series, "A Young Doctor's Notebook and Other Stories," also starring Jon Hamm. more on this story
The singer posted the picture to Instagram with the caption, "What can i say??? #repost #revolutionoflove #messiah #iconic #unapologeticbitch #livingforlove #artforfreedom." She's been dropping teases on her Instagram account over the past week including song lyrics, sheet music, and a video of an orchestra playing a few seconds of the song. But this particular tease could be just that; last year at this time, Madonna posted a picture to Instagram of her in the same mask, taken for a Harper's Bazaar shoot. If you look closely at the "Messiah" photo, you'll see some semi-flawed photoshop work. It could be a fan-made photo that Madonna simply re-posted - she did that a month ago and some thought it was the artwork for "Unapologetic B*tch" but it turned out to be a picture from her V Magazine shoot with Katy Perry. See it here.
We've already heard the first taste of it: "To Love and Die," a Bonnie and Clyde-themed love song produced by No I.D., who handles production elsewhere on the album along with Key Wane, Fisticuffs, James Fauntleroy, and Dot Da Genius. Talking to The FADER earlier this year, Aiko said of the album's narrative, " It's like a path. You're going to see an evolution by the end of the album, a girl going through heartbreak and being confused, in a dark place, and then [emerging] enlightened and grown up through these experiences. It's real life. A growing girl." more on this story
Luckily, we can put this debate behind us as the people at Funny or Die have recovered Yeezy's "real" setlist from Bonnaroo last month. Turns out, we may be only getting a small piece of the potential Kanye rants on any given night. Who knew that his take on lighting in photos was a possibility? And what does the audience need to do to maybe guide West to a specific rant. Say, you want to hear his take on dog leashes, maybe barking between songs will cue this in his mind. Check out the full setlist, and keep your eyes peeled for the new album from West, which could be out anywhere from tomorrow to never here.
In the meantime, Jessie J previewed the song on Instagram with a quick snippet of the new tune. As it turns out, the track isn't an updated take on Nancy Sinatra's song of the same title. It instead borrows from the sounds of the era, '70s funk. In the snippet, Jessie J sings "She got a body like an hourglass / I can give it to you all the time / She got a booty like a Cadillac / But I can send you into overdrive" over a clapping beat and a horn. Check out the preview here.
"I basically grew up on the record collection of my older brother which was a lot of disco and funk, the sound of the '80s," said the producer born Marco Niemerski in a Radio.com interview about the roots of retro-leaning sound. "Stuff like Chic, and Earth, Wind & Fire. I guess that influenced me quite a lot. I'm not necessarily trying to recreate it, but I'm still attached to that sound." His love for "that sound" inspired Tensnake to reach out to legendary guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers on Facebook in hopes of working with him on some music. "I was surprised myself. I wasn't expecting any reply," he recalled. "I'd heard before that he was trying to get in touch with young producers. I sent him a message on Facebook and didn't expect anything. Literally after like 10 minutes I got a reply. He was like, 'I know your stuff, I just played a Chic show, and when I come back to New York and to my studio I'll give (your music) a listen.' I just asked him if he could imagine working with me. I sent him some stuff I produced back then." Among that first batch of tracks he sent to Rodgers included the song "Love Sublime," which Rodgers would eventually play on, adding his signature guitar strums to the tune. The song would eventually be the third single from Glow, Tensnake's debut album. "I wrote that song basically with the singer, Fiora," Tensnake said, referencing his frequent Australian collaborator who has also worked with Armin Van Buuren. "It was half-finished, that version, and I sent it to Nile. If you do something with Nile�for me, it was important that it made sense, that it's not just a marketing stunt or whatever. It was important for me to leave space for his guitar. He added his percentage of Nile Rodgers, but without making it too obvious. He really understands what a song needs." More including the full video interview here.
Her affinity for Marilyn Monroe, the style icon to blondes everywhere, shines through on her record as well. The actress gets name checked in the first two songs. "Who wouldn't want to look like Marilyn Monroe?" Lambert asked, laughing. "With the album being [called] Platinum I got lighter in my hair because I wanted to pay homage to the title of the record." She told us about her relationship with another style icon as well, her friend and collaborator Loretta Lynn. "[Lynn] had all these gowns hanging, they were all different colors. Just beautiful ball gowns," Lambert said, recalling a trip to Lynn's home to shoot a music video. More.
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