Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Owl City's impressive ascent, to two veteran groups reaching milestones, to a storied festival looking to launch a few more careers, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
* In a huge win for synth-pop, Owl City claimed the top spot on the Billboard singles chart this past week with "Fireflies." What I really dig about this is that "Fireflies" had a slow build. It's almost as if, for the first time in what seems like forever, a major label put a song out there and just let people discover it. "Fireflies" wasn't shoved down our throats. I remember getting the single in the mail in mid-July. I'm glad they gave it time and let the fan base build for it. I'm also glad Owl City is teaming up with Lights for a tour in 2010. That should be an amazing show and I can't wait to check it out.
* Nick Jonas, heartthrob to pre-teen girls everywhere, is planning a solo album, because, ya know, in recent history a boy band artist's solo projects have sold more than their projects with their group all of zero percent of the time (not even Justin Timberlake has pulled that off). In light of that glaring fact, Jonas took to his MySpace blog to make an announcement about the band. Since posting on MySpace reaches about as many people as a classified ad for a tag sale in a local newspaper, I'd figure I'd relay the news. According to the caps lock challenged Jonas, "WE ARE NOT BREAKING UP." You may all sleep better now.
* On October 25th U2 broke their own record for the highest attendance for one US show by a single headliner as they played to a crowd of 97,014 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. They set the previous mark in 1987, selling out the now-demolished JFK Stadium in Philly (home of the worst Astroturf in the universe) to the tune of 86,145. That's a whole lotta people who like really mediocre music.
* Speaking of mediocre, it's been almost 15 years since Dave Grohl founded the Foo Fighters. OK, they've had a few nice songs, but have we really been hearing them on the airwaves for THAT long? Apparently so and in celebration of this VH1, in their continuing effort to suddenly support artists and genres of music they rarely, if ever, supported in the past, recently filmed a VH1 Storytellers featuring the band. The special is set to air on November 27th, probably right in-between a reality dating show involving an aging C-List celebrity catching herpes from a "fan" while looking for love, and a group of cast-offs from other reality shows wrestling in Jell-O for a wad of $20 bills. Man, do I love VH1!
* Lilith Fair is going to be making a comeback because… aw, hell if I know. The women's music festival, which ended up featuring more rainbows and triangles than a Pink Floyd album cover, ran for three years in the 90's and was a nice launching pad for a handful of acts that targeted a niche audience. Organizers announced last week that the 2010 return of Lilith Fair will involve an 18 city tour. Ten bucks says it won't be sponsored by a woman's razor company.
* Now this is pretty cool. There's a new photography exhibit that's touring five cities in the east, south and Midwest that covers the history of rock from the 50's up through today. Titled "Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present," the exhibit features photos of everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Amy Winehouse. It opened at the Brooklyn Museum this past Friday and will also have stops in Memphis, Tenn., Worcester, Mass., Akron, Ohio and Columbia, S.C.
* The Pop Shots video pick of the week is "Little Bird" by the Canadian indie pop duo Hexes & Ohs. It's some nice evidence that it doesn't take a big budget to make a good video, just a little imagination. Plus, where else are you going to find a rooster and a toucan engaging in battle?
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
* In a huge win for synth-pop, Owl City claimed the top spot on the Billboard singles chart this past week with "Fireflies." What I really dig about this is that "Fireflies" had a slow build. It's almost as if, for the first time in what seems like forever, a major label put a song out there and just let people discover it. "Fireflies" wasn't shoved down our throats. I remember getting the single in the mail in mid-July. I'm glad they gave it time and let the fan base build for it. I'm also glad Owl City is teaming up with Lights for a tour in 2010. That should be an amazing show and I can't wait to check it out.* Nick Jonas, heartthrob to pre-teen girls everywhere, is planning a solo album, because, ya know, in recent history a boy band artist's solo projects have sold more than their projects with their group all of zero percent of the time (not even Justin Timberlake has pulled that off). In light of that glaring fact, Jonas took to his MySpace blog to make an announcement about the band. Since posting on MySpace reaches about as many people as a classified ad for a tag sale in a local newspaper, I'd figure I'd relay the news. According to the caps lock challenged Jonas, "WE ARE NOT BREAKING UP." You may all sleep better now.
* On October 25th U2 broke their own record for the highest attendance for one US show by a single headliner as they played to a crowd of 97,014 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. They set the previous mark in 1987, selling out the now-demolished JFK Stadium in Philly (home of the worst Astroturf in the universe) to the tune of 86,145. That's a whole lotta people who like really mediocre music.
* Speaking of mediocre, it's been almost 15 years since Dave Grohl founded the Foo Fighters. OK, they've had a few nice songs, but have we really been hearing them on the airwaves for THAT long? Apparently so and in celebration of this VH1, in their continuing effort to suddenly support artists and genres of music they rarely, if ever, supported in the past, recently filmed a VH1 Storytellers featuring the band. The special is set to air on November 27th, probably right in-between a reality dating show involving an aging C-List celebrity catching herpes from a "fan" while looking for love, and a group of cast-offs from other reality shows wrestling in Jell-O for a wad of $20 bills. Man, do I love VH1!* Lilith Fair is going to be making a comeback because… aw, hell if I know. The women's music festival, which ended up featuring more rainbows and triangles than a Pink Floyd album cover, ran for three years in the 90's and was a nice launching pad for a handful of acts that targeted a niche audience. Organizers announced last week that the 2010 return of Lilith Fair will involve an 18 city tour. Ten bucks says it won't be sponsored by a woman's razor company.
* Now this is pretty cool. There's a new photography exhibit that's touring five cities in the east, south and Midwest that covers the history of rock from the 50's up through today. Titled "Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present," the exhibit features photos of everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Amy Winehouse. It opened at the Brooklyn Museum this past Friday and will also have stops in Memphis, Tenn., Worcester, Mass., Akron, Ohio and Columbia, S.C.
* The Pop Shots video pick of the week is "Little Bird" by the Canadian indie pop duo Hexes & Ohs. It's some nice evidence that it doesn't take a big budget to make a good video, just a little imagination. Plus, where else are you going to find a rooster and a toucan engaging in battle?
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
Amy SciarrettoRight now I'm reading a lot about music. It almost sounds oxymoronic. To read about music, when music is what you listen to. But music, like many of the arts, is something that touches all of your senses. Now, I am not going to muse on the Kindle, and how it is going ruin literature and the literary process of digesting reading materials. I do love the bookshelves that runs width wise under my low windows of my cond Read More ...
Adam BernardWelcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Dancing With The Stars finding so Read More ...
William DeshairI wanted to set the table with this edition of "R.eal A.nd P.ersonal" for columns to come on the subject of the Female Emcee. As time goes on, I will slowly phase out that title and hope that you will do the same. Because face it, calling a woman that raps, a female emcee, is like calling an African-American that plays the position of quarterback, a black quarterback. Ability should be sexless. We must change how we Read More ...
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