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MTV had this bit of news: Miley Cyrus might not have been alive in the '80s, but that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the decade's music. According to People magazine, Cyrus has recorded a cover of Poison's 1988 hit "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." more R. Kelly is writing a memoir. The 42-year-old star says in a statement issued Wednesday that he is working on an autobiography with David Ritz that will "tell it like it is." more France's biggest rock star, Johnny Hallyday, has been hospitalized in Los Angeles, but his press service said Wednesday that the infection he was suffering from following back surgery has been "contained." more A judge ordered Nas to increase his payments to his soon-to-be ex-wife, Kelis, and their infant son to $51,101 a month Wednesday. more Following the release of her new album Rated R, Rihanna confirms a UK arena tour for 2010. more A Palestinian shopkeeper and father portrayed as a terrorist in the movie "Bruno" is suing film star Sacha Baron Cohen, David Letterman and others for libel and slander. The lawsuit filed last week by Ayman Abu Aita in District of Columbia federal court seeks $110 million in damages. more A new study from the National Endowment for the Arts finds a notable decline in movie, theater, museum and concert attendance and other "benchmark" cultural activities between 2002 and 2008 for adults 18 and older, and a sharper fall from 25 years ago. The drop was for virtually all art forms and for virtually all age groups and levels of education. more. They have their theories about why this is but fail to mention the rising cost of attending such activities and the possibility of a drop in quality of films and music. The next story plays into the cost issue! Reuters reports that "film box offices were poised on Wednesday to eclipse 2007's record $9.68 billion in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales with Hollywood eyeing more than $10 billion this year as audiences flocked to theaters during the recession." So perhaps they are charging more for fewer viewers? Either that or we have evidence of a federal agency putting out flawed data. The report says later that "the 2009 total was aided by a 28 cent increase in ticket prices from the year before to an average $7.46. The total number of tickets sold, or admissions, is expected to reach 1.4 billion, up from 1.34 billion in 2008." The high-water mark was in 2002 with 1.6 billion tickets, interestingly the first year of the NEA study. more The video for Neil Diamond's version of Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song" can now be viewed here. From Neil's newest holiday release, A Cherry, Cherry Christmas, the animated video celebrating the festival of lights was created and produced by Tektoniq/Vision Films. Lady Gaga's special Christmas release, "Christmas Tree", is currently FREE on Amazon.com. Grab it here. (note: we're not sure how long the free offer is going to last, it was active when this article went to press.)
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'I Dreamed A Dream' was #1 again on the charts this week in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, Canada and Japan. 'I Dreamed A Dream' made its historical introduction to the charts last week achieving the highest first week sales of 2009 as well as the largest ever debut for a female artist on the Billboard 200 in the Soundscan era with 701,000 copies sold in the U.S and over 5 million copies worldwide. Additionally, Susan Boyle will star in an original one-hour television special exclusively on TV Guide Network. The worldwide premiere of "I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story" airs on Sunday, December 13 at 9:00 p.m. on ITV1 in the UK, followed by the exclusive North American premiere on TV Guide Network at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. The show will celebrate this extraordinary woman's journey from a small village in rural Scotland to international fame and fan-fare.
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Bondy has been on the road nearly non-stop since June in support of his sophomore album When The Devil's Loose. Released September 1st by Fat Possum Records, the album has been praised by NPR, Spin, Nylon, Time Out New York, The A.V. Club, American Songwriter, Blurt, V Magazine, and Popmatters, among others. His current headlining performances have been drawing high marks as well, with The A.V. Club Milwaukee calling his November 24th show "quietly captivating" and noting "He knows when to keep it simple and understated, like on the set opener 'Mightiest Of Guns' or 'I Can See The Pines Are Dancing'-both off of this year's When The Devil's Loose-and when to throw mid-song curveballs that can transform the otherwise plaintive 'A Slow Parade' from a whisper to a scream."
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Kristin Chenoweth effortlessly transitions between stage, film and television. Chenoweth recently received the 2009 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her memorable performance in the ABC series Pushing Daisies. On the stage, Chenoweth is best known for her show-stealing, Tony Award winning performance in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown and her triumphant star turn when she originated the role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked, which earned her a leading actress Tony Award nomination. Chenoweth recently starred in the highly rated Lifetime Original Movie The Twelve Men of Christmas and will next be seen in Disney's 2010 release of You Again with Jamie Lee Curtis and Kristen Bell. She will also return to Broadway in Spring 2010, starring alongside Sean Hayes in the much-anticipated revival of Promises, Promises. "We are delighted to have a triple threat such as Kristin Chenoweth, a multiple award-wining star of the stage, film and television, as host for our show," said Tom Calderone, President of VH1. "Kristin is hugely talented with broad appeal and will bring a tremendous energy to the live ceremony. Truly anything can happen in a live show, and Kristin thrives in that electric environment." - more on this story
2009 was quite a year for Moneypenny. The group, which was primarily known as a DJ duo at the beginning of the year, unveiled their "Live" act and original songs at Perry's stage @ Lollapalooza to great critical acclaim and parlayed that good fortune into high profile gigs with Neon Indian, Flosstradamus, Basement Jaxx and Miike Snow in Chicago, as well as other high profile plays such as the Dim Mak party in LA and the legendary Popscene party in San Francisco. Moneypenny saw the release of their first single, "Say No" (which came packaged with a killer remix from Chicago contemporaries Hey Champ), which prompted features in Time Out, CS, and URB and led tastemaking indie blog Pretty Much Amazing to call the track "catchy and interesting, and guaranteed to make you want to bounce." Last but not least, the girls of Moneypenny also found some success in the highly competitive world of music licensing, with their yet-to-be-released song "Lipstick Revolution" finding airplay on ABC's "Make It Or Break It."
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Both CDs are bursting with exclusives. CD1 includes the whacked out groove of Tiefschwarz's 'Trust' and Onionz's 'Spacebass' (Original Mix), with its rocket jet booms and spiralling percussion. Guy J's 'Lamur' (Henry Saiz remix) drops a tribal robot stomp, before the shuffling beats of Alan Fitzpatrick's 'Green Light' take over. Fitzpatrick also supplies a panting re-rub of 'Slice' from New York techno legend Joey Beltram. 'Main Room Part 1' by Robbie Rivera opens CD2, with piercing strings launching into a harder, more madcap mix that is Carl's favourite of the two. Joachim Gaurraud's 'No Techno In This Room Please' is a highlight with clanging bin-lid percussion, echoing howls and submarine bass wallops. 'Perfect Sunrise' by Wilson Smallwood & Ingram drops in gloopy twists reminiscent of 808 State's 'Pacific State' and Politeca's 'What Kind Of World' closes with its pulsing, jazzy undertones. No label encapsulates dance music's international explosion and restless creativity quite like Global Underground. Launched in 1996 with a Tony de Vit mix album based on a visit to Tel Aviv, it has expanded from a world-famous series of defining DJ mix CDs into all areas of cutting edge dance music. They have released artist albums for acts like James Lavelle's UNKLE, sound tracked some of the world's most popular TV shows, including CSI, and some of PlayStation's biggest selling games, and staged fantastic parties in some of the world's most exotic locations � not to mention selling over three million CDs. And now they've touched down in Nevada. "When I finally decided to do a Global Underground mix it just had to be here," says Carl. "Everything aside from the entrance fee is free. It's all about sharing and contributing to the experience. People barter, offering everything from free artwork installations to free flirting lessons and drinks. And Nevada looks like a scene from mad Max." Jason Teplitsky and Syd Gris finally talked Carl into playing at the festival's Opulent Temple in 2008. He was so moved by the event, he resolved to keep coming back every year. He continues, "It's people who are there for their own reasons � whether it's to laugh, to cry, to have sex, to listen to music, whether you want to run around naked, or fully clothed," says Carl. "It doesn't matter if you are a big DJ. It's all about what you want to give. I've spent a lot of my own money to play here, but I don't care. I give people my music and I get back a lot of love. That's enough." - more on this story
Not wanting to leave 2009 without releasing something to the people, Buff1 decided to link with his partner in Crown Royale, DJ Rhettmatic, to release a free project and end the year with a bang. Enter: It's A 1derful Life Mixtape. It's A 1derful Life serves not only to showcase Buff's talents as an emcee, but to further introduce the world to his next endeavor, Crown Royale. Hosted by DJ Rhettmatic of the world famous Beat Junkies, It's A 1derful Life is a compilation including some of Buff's guest-appearances as well as exclusive material. The entire project culminates with two tracks from the MYX Music Label producer-emcee duo, Crown Royale.
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April Smith & The Great Picture Show play sassy pop music informed by the '30s and '40s, juke joints and cabaret, the Andrews Sisters and Tom Waits. Smith -- born and raised in Toms River, New Jersey, and now based in Brooklyn -- covers a wide range as a singer and songwriter, from the heartbroken ballad "Beloved" to the cheeky tell-off "Stop Wondering" and the sexy swagger of "Wow and Flutter." Her voice swoons and seduces, and then escalates to breathtaking peaks, backed by piano, upright bass, drums, guitar, horns, ukulele, accordion and even, when the occasion warrants, a suitcase used as a bass drum. April Smith supported a national tour by singer and Eagles/Linda Ronstadt songwriter J.D. SOUTHER in 2008 and played LOLLAPALOOZA 2009, in addition to appearing on an episode of the syndicated TV show FEARLESS MUSIC and recording sessions for New York radio stations WRXP-FM and WFUV-FM -- all as an unsigned artist with no current album. In the summer of 2009, Smith sought to raise $10,000 to record and release SONGS FOR A SINKING SHIP from her fans via Kickstarter.com, a fundraising site for artists and creators. In the two months allotted for the campaign, Smith exceeded her goal, eventually earning more than $13,000 in pledges as fans eagerly anticipated the new album. Smith's song "Terrible Things" is currently featured in a promo spot for the Showtime TV series Californication
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Hey Champ gained major recognition during the summer of 2008 when they received a phone call from Grammy-nominated artist Lupe Fiasco, who had seen a video for their song "Cold Dust Girl" on the Internet and quickly decided to pursue the band for his label. Within a month of this introduction, Hey Champ was on a nationwide tour opening for Lupe and in the early stages of recording their first album under his FNF imprint. By early 2009, "Cold Dust Girl" had been spun in clubs on every continent (conceding Antarctica) and the band had gained stature in the rock and electro-dance communities by sharing the stage with international sensations like Justice, Sebastian Tellier, The Sounds, Midnight Juggernauts, The Streets, Jet, Kid Sister, Datarock, and The Bloody Beetroots to name a few. With the recent disbanding of Lupe's FNF record label, Hey Champ will continue to move forward and continue to energize audiences around the world while preparing their forthcoming, independently released, debut album in the Spring of 2010. In the meantime, Hey Champ encourages new fans to make their way into the "Winners Circle" where the band displays all of the creative shine that put them on blast in the first place. - www.heychamp.com.
antiMUSIC News featured on RockNews.info .
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