I spent all day on Friday of last week at the third annual Rock Star Energy Drink Mayhem Festival in Camden, New Jersey, which is a stone's throw from Philadelphia. We are in the midst of a record heat wave – translation: miserable - where almost every day hits 90 degrees or above. I despise the heat and would prefer a 4 degree over an 80 degree day with maximum humidity. I hate when the weatherman says, "Oh it's a beautiful day, going to hit 80 day,' assuming that that's what everyone likes and enjoys. It's very closed-minded thinking. That said, it was brutal at Mayhem and I walked the crowds, seeing lots of drunk, sweaty, overweight people there for the love of music.I brought my 11-year-old nephew along to see the headliners, and while we were sitting on the railing, near the seating area, trying to escape the noise and heat of the amphitheater before the set started, a drunk but friendly man, approximately 40-years-old, stopped and looked at him and did a fist bump, saying, "I hope this night stays with you forever. It will. I am happy to see you here at a metal show, and not at a Read More ...
You looked up to him all your life. You wanted to grow up and be just like him. You walked, talked and mimicked his gestures. You believed in this man more than you believed in your parents; more than you believed in a higher power. He was your role model. He was your favorite rapper, the highest title, numero uno. 
First things first: late Friday night, I was playing Frank Sinatra and Fleetwood Mac in my kitchen, while doing some work on my laptop, when my five-month-old bulldog - he is nearly 30 lbs of muscle and love - showed his affinity for music. His ears would move in time with the beat. Whenever I listen to sports talk radio, his ears stay immobile. When I switch to music – usually Elvis Presley, Ol' Blue Eyes and, of course, Pantera, since his name is Higgins Hansen Anselmo-Sciarretto, in homage to My Fair Lady and Philip Anselmo- his ears move to the beat and he looks at the radio. No joke. I love seeing the effect that music has on my beautiful beast. Music is the universal language, even for a canine with no language skills! It's really amazing to watch his ears move to the music. And he does it every single time. It's probably an involuntary reflex and response to the sonic stimulus, but whatever it is, he has a reaction to it and that's what moves me ... much more than an inch.
A little over eight years ago, I was just like you; in position to never get signed by a major label. Yes, I was a boneheaded, cocky, know-it-all emcee with daydreams of making it. With so many other things I could had wasted my time doing, I was in and out of basements, performing twice if any a year, writing music for an arm length fan base and with ten years in, not one red cent made to my name.
Recently Sugarland caused concern when they announced their next album – The Incredible Machine – would feature music that expanded their already expanded notion of what country music is. The Zac Brown Band has been doing much of the same thing with their blend of country, roots rock, pop, folk, soul and reggae, but didn't get as much of a concerned audience. 
I was just reading about how Converse, my favorite sneak company, has the "Three Artists, One Song" program on their website, where you can download one song collaborations by three eclectic artists for free. Isn't that a creative way to keep fans interested in music even though music sales are dwindling by the hundreds of thousands and millions over the past few years. But giving away the songs for free doesn't solve the devaluing of music problem and people expecting it for free. I was reading this while checking Facebook... with my 11-year-old nephew is sitting next me.
Clearly, the summer in Hip-Hop has started off with quite a bang. Drake released Thank Me Later and was close to selling 500k units in the first week. Eminem released Recovery the week after and sold 700k units in the first week, while eclipsing (no Twilight) a million sold in the second week. Next up is Miami's own, Def Jam frontrunner, Rick Ross.
In a world where it seems if looks and image are seemingly more important than the music that a singer makes, country music felt like it was the one last genre – much like with album sales – that was at least somewhat immune to this trend. But Nashville has always worried about image. It's why handlers at Sony Nashville told Joey Martin that she had to choose between love and her career. They didn't want her married because it would 'harm' her 'young' image or something like that. She left her big money record deal and moved to a farm and married Rory Feek, a popular songwriter who realized very early on in his own career that many movers and shakers in Nashville valued image more than he cared to play up to it. TV, one of the most image conscious of mediums – took the couple and made them a popular real country act called Joey + Rory. What you see is what you get with the couple. They are real and genuine, just like the fans they sing to night after night on the road. No gloss, no glitter. Real.
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 Lilith Fair canceling a chunk of their tour, to Melissa Etheridge canceling her latest relationship, to Lady Gaga canceling President Obama's popularity, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
My very good friend Seth W. says things that make sense a lot. He's got that quiet, simple wisdom that speaks volumes and decibels louder than all those pseudo intellectuals who like to hear themselves talk. His observations are often quite profound and leave a lasting impression on me.
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 2Pac being honored by Congress, to Tori Spelling's claims that she's being contacted from beyond the grave, to the classic songs Carlos Santana hopes to bring back, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
I just ordered Pat Benatar's new autobiography, Between a Heart and Rock Place. I cannot wait to read it. I have a cross-country flight to LA next week, so I am sure I can blast right through it while I am flying the friendly skies. While I can usually get promotional - free - copies of a book I want to read, write about and review, I actually purchased Benatar's book since as a fan, I wanted to read it. I didn't plan to write about it, but here I am. Writing about it. It's almost involuntary at this point.
Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots has a very special announcement - we're one year old! That's right, today marks the one year anniversary of Pop Shots, and I'm proud to have brought you all the news of the pop world, complete with snarky commentary, every Wednesday for the past 52 weeks. Over the course of the next 52 weeks I hope to expand Pop Shots to include interviews along with the news and occasional special edition columns you know and love, but before we get to that I figured a party was in order, so I'm throwing one, RIGHT NOW. Check out who made the guest list with this exclusive live look in at what's going on at the official Pop Shots One Year Anniversary House Party (you had to know I'd be doing this Kid ‘N Play style!).
With school almost out in all districts, many families will be going on road trips. In the past, a road trip mixtape was a carefully prepared mix of songs that appealed to the majority of the family but with the addition of tv/DVD in virtually every family's car, road trip mixtapes have almost gone the way of the dodo. For those that do make a mixtape, they typically will just select a favorite song on their iPod and use the genius function that Apple added to them or perhaps be even 'lazy' and just shuffle the iPod. This is a sad thing as a fan of good themed 'mixes' I think they still provide great areas of opportunity for people who love to hear their favorite songs while driving down the road.
Now that I am a mom to a new puppy, who is a gentleman, scholar and supermodel, I've been wishing that I could work from home more often. In this day and age, it's more than feasible; it's a reality and it's totally doable, thanks to the Wi Fi connections, the handheld Smart Phones, the virtual desktops. There is no reason that I couldn't forego five days a week at an office. Why not trade two days out and come in for three days? The three days would be good for face time, meetings, etc. All the amenities of an office setting are available at my home office, which is really just a corner in my condo with a desk and my laptop. The only thing that would be missing is interaction, which can always be done at office visits, during meetings.
A few months ago, KRS-ONE, surrounded by New York media, went on an all-out rant during the Grand Opening of the first Hip-Hop Museum. He spewed on a long list of topics, from what he proclaimed as lack of "Founding Father" support to the museum as well as these same architects being left out of any moneys made by the museum. The reviews to his statements were mixed. While there were some people in attendance that agreed with his philosophies, others felt that KRS-ONE was way off track, along with choosing the wrong time to express his aggressive thought patterns.
Started initially as a fair where fans could meet their favorite artists in booths, Fan Fair has morphed into CMA Fan Festival. It has moved from those humble fair beginnings to the downtown corridor of Nashville and it really is the only event of its kind. 
I've conducted a few interviews with bands recently, with band members who are around my age and who are a part of the CD generation, not the download generation and we got into discussions, both verbal and via email, in a brush of irony. The irony being an email discussion about how artwork was an extension of an album and of a band and how the visual complemented the auditory in such a way that the two could not be separated without harming the other sensory element.
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 recent relationship heartbreaks for a Saved By The Bell grad and Miley Cyrus, to M.I.A.'s heartbreak over bad press, to the heartbreak experienced by a bunch of spoiled princess when they get told You're Cut Off!, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
So you want that "REAL HIP-HOP" right? Yep, you want it. You can't define what it is so you think that it's all love. No, it isn't. The reason why you can't define what "REAL HIP-HOP" means, is because in theory it's nothing more than a mental corporation. 
It feels a little strange for me to be writing this column on Memorial Day in the USA (May 31, 2010), a day that is supposed to be reserved to give thanks to the brave men and women who have given life and limbs for me to be able to speak and write what I'm about to write. Yet, here I am compelled to stand up and discuss why petty arguments on country music websites and message boards about politics, religion and turn me off. Even if the discussion starts off civilized, it quickly disintegrates into an 'us vs. them' argument that also quickly turns uber-political and - for some wacky reason - explanations for a soldier's "motivation" for fighting for their country is brought up.
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 who's not feeling like a winner after the Alicia Keys - Swizz Beatz engagement & pregnancy announcement, to the big winners coming from American Idol and the Eurovision Song Contest, to the huge loss 50 Cent recently experienced, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
Through R.eal A.nd P.ersonal, you are receiving well thought out views and concepts on everything that is hip-hop; or at best, what is important to me in hip-hop. Rap music and myself are the same age. That being sad, the panic surrounding the genre is nothing more than a mid-life crisis, right? So when Bad Boy Entertainment was at its height in the mid-to-late 90's, rap music was a young Shiny Suit wearing adult that didn't have an issue with bragging about everything it had. The music was still rebellious. However, the money was pouring in at record pace. The music was promoted as being "real life" struggles often pitting artists against one another. And just like a young adult, some of the decisions made weren't thought out, leading to physical altercations and even death.
With Memorial Day this coming Monday (May 31, 2010) it's the official kick-off to the summer season and as always it seems that country radio has stuck to their formula for how songs should be played seasonally. In the fall/winter months we are given more ballads about love and loss and everything in between, in the spring and summer we're given fun little 'ditties' that are designed to be nothing more than enjoyable, sing-a-long worthy tunes perfect for the perfect party atmosphere.
But when I heard the term "playlist culture," I realized that it's not a nugget of truth lying within the statement, but that it's the whole truth. While driving to work the other day, I slipped At Night We Live, the brand new album by Far, one of my favorite bands ever. It's their first since 1998. I had the record in my tote bag for two very specific reasons: to listen to it in my car and to import it into my iTunes and thus, my iPod, for instant portability. I followed through with my every intention to listen to the album 
* This just in - you don't want to put Miley in your mouth! Yes, Britney Spears needs to move aside because Miley Cyrus has a whole new kind of "Toxic" for the kids as last week Wal-Mart had to pull an entire line of Miley Cyrus-brand necklaces and bracelets from its shelves after tests performed for The Associated Press found the jewelry contained high levels of the toxic metal cadmium. According to the AP, cadmium in jewelry is not known to be dangerous if the items are simply worn, but concerns come when a person bites or sucks on the jewelry. So no more biting or sucking on Miley until further notice!
In my last column I talked about how people are finding success via independent means or independent labels. Recently Nashville lost a major label. Lyric Street Records as it was folded into parent company Disney Music Group's Burbank, CA offices as all but some of the staffers who promote singles to radio were cut loose. The label, which was around for over a decade, let Sarah Buxton, The Parks and Love and Theft out of their contracts. This whole development is much like the corporate mergers of the last fifteen years or so as the Music industry struggles to change their model from the successful album-driven profit margins to streamlined 360 artist-development driven models. 
On my journey to bring Hip-Hop Reform to rap music, each step was met with a new obstacle. Not that there isn't anything grand about rap, because there are some great things in motion. However, I would be a fool to believe that these bright spots have enough light to shine through the dark patches.
With the music world changing and record labels seemingly turning more into promotional partners than they ever have been in the past, there are some artists out there that have been working as independent artists for years now. In country music one of those artists is Billy Yates. He's released eight albums in his career. Only one of those, his first release from 1997, came on a major label. The rest came on his own label called M.O.D. Record Label or "My Own Damn Record Label." Billy has been such a success that he released a "Favorites" album in 2006. 
* It looks like Disney may have some competition in the teen actress/singer market as Nickelodeon's Miranda Cosgrove, who most people know as iCarly, landed at number eight on the Billboard Albums chart this past week with her full length debut, Sparks Fly. Hey, does anybody else remember when singers would get big and then try to be on TV, and actors having albums was an oddity? When did that get totally reversed? I think once all of this devolves into Snookie Sings The American Standards we'll see the ship start to right itself again.
I will take an educated guess that the revolution will not be televised. Why televise it when in 140 characters or less, you can tweet away? Well, more rappers are tweeting away; "leaking" their music and pleading for Retweets. Some of them have gotten rid of their career long publicists and dignity along with it.
Normally in this space I write about country music. Today I'm going to write about the community that is in complete and utter shock after a massive two days long ‘monsoon' hit Middle Tennessee and delivered one hell of a right-hook to Nashville. 16-17 inches of rain fell in the downtown Nashville area while over 20 inches hit some other places and while we were all reeling from massive floods that filled up the Cumberland and Harpeth Rivers, most of America was clueless to our plight.
* In the best news coming from Bret Michaels' camp in weeks, it looks like there's a distinct possibility the rocker might be able to make the live season finale of Celebrity Apprentice on May 23rd. Michaels, determined not to let the brain hemorrhage that sent him to the hospital get him down, also plans to resume touring on the 26th and expects to be on the road with Lynyrd Skynyrd this summer. A clear fan favorite on Celebrity Apprentice due to his good natured-ness, Michaels is someone I'm rooting for. Of course, I'm also rooting for Maria Kanellis, but that's for 
To all of you out there, emcee's, media, historians (asleep at the wheel) and fans, stop crying dead! You are, have, and I'm sure will continue to waste your time expressing your ill-fated opinions about the current state of hip-hop. But let me ask you this: when you were a teenager listening to your favorite emcee, wasn't there an older person in your family telling you that your music was below-par? Don't back away now! Maybe it was your parent, or you big brother, aunt or uncle. Trust that someone told you that music wasn't like the way they remembered it. But you gave them you're a** to kiss each time. You told them that nobody was better than Ice Cube; nobody was better than Scarface; nobody was better than Big L; nobody was better than Ja Rule; nobody was better than Eminem. You catc 
Last week, I headed off to cover the RATT record release party at the Key Club on Sunset in Los Angeles, California, one of my favorite places in the whole world. Mind you, I was headquartered at a hotel on Hammond and Sunset, two blocks from the Rainbow Bar and Grill and the venue. It was the site of the first kiss I shared with my ex. Seriously, we were locked at the lips for three hours in July 2007 at On the Rocks, at the back of the Rainbow, in front of the Rainbow, down the street from the Roxy and ultimately, ended up across the street on the corner of Hammond and Sunset, trying not to part ways, trying to hold off my ride back to my friend's house where I was crashing and trying to remain in that moment we were ensconced and happy in.
September 11, 2011 will mark the ten year anniversary of when the United States of America was attacked. Thousands died, the financial district was hobbled, war was struck, and the roots were laid for what we now see as a global recession. Hundreds of thousands will see this day as a moment of remembrance. We'll be looking back on a time when our country came together to support one another and allow for our Patriotic spirit to ring loudly around the world. Others just might see this as the day Jay-Z released The Blueprint.
This past Sunday was the 45th annual ACM awards and while it played out like a typical award show, there were some surprises with Luke Bryan's "Best New Artist" award and Miranda Lambert's Female Vocalist of the Year being another. It was a surprise only because fans expected either Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift to take home the award that also featured ACM Awards host and country icon Reba McEntire and beloved traditionalist Lee Ann Womack. So for the alt-country leaning Miranda Lambert, to get the award is icing on the cake for an artist who, in a time when the album is dying, still makes albums and chooses singles not for what will do well on radio but for what touches her heart or something she loves to sing night after night.
Somewhere along the line, my views have changed. And to be honest with you, Diggy Simmons wasn't the reason why my views changed. Hip-Hop and all of its elements, performs smoothly when there is balance; the "Gangsta" (Snoop Dogg) and the "Conscious" (Common), the male (LL Cool J) and the female (Lauryn Hill), the poor (Bone Thugs and Harmony) and the rich (Will Smith). The largest economic boom in rap, took place during this balancing act in the mid to late 90's. The current state in rap music is the result of leaning to far to either side.
The record is the first full album from a Saint Louis, MO-based artist named Ken Domash. His current single, "Countrified," I have heard previously and while I liked it, it didn't make me want to rush to listen to the album. But for some reason, I gave it a shot and wow, am I glad I did. The album is also called Countrified and it's a good title for what we have here is an album which mixes in both traditional country elements with a hard rock approach to the melodies and production. 
While I still don't think the name "Amy" leaps off the tongue, I must say my ego enjoys the massage of being featured in many songs. Now, bear with me, here, as this isn't going to be as self-indulgent of a column as it may seem. There's the classic soft rock and rootsy rock song, "Amie," by Pure Prairie League. Then there's " 
* Lollapalooza has announced its headliners for this year and they're big, I mean REALLY big. Lady Gaga, Green Day and a reunited Soundgarden lead a lineup of more than 130 acts that are set to perform at the three day festival. Unfortunately, the price tag for the event is just as big, with three day passes going for $215 each. Admittedly, it's still less than Coachella's $269 three day pass, but both of them make you realize how great a deal the one day, 40+ band, Warped Tour is at under $30 a ticket.
* Before I get to all the good and evil of the week, a news story broke that was past the deadline for Pop Shots, but was far too big to let slide until next week, and that was, of course, Ricky Martin's not-so-shocking announcement that he's gay. One of my buddies wondered why Martin didn't go for a big money payout for his coming out but I have to wonder if any tabloid would have given him a significant chunk of change for making an announcement that was akin to "the sky is blue." Despite everyone having at least an inkling as to Martin's sexuality I'll still applaud him for his courage to announce it so publicly. The height of 
* It's been a mixed week for the new queen of pop as Lady Gaga found herself breaking yet another chart recored, but also being sued for an amount of money that would make Dr. Evil proud. First, Gaga's latest single, "Telephone," reached the top spot on the radio airplay chart, giving her six #1s, which ties her for the most since the Nielsen BDS-based radio airplay chart launched in 1992. The other artists with six are Beyonce, who happens to make a guest appearance on " 
On Thursday, Universal Music Group announced that they would be slashing retail prices for the CD to below $10.00 mark. Known as the Velocity program, it would see album prices range between $6 and $10. The label would count on sales volume, as well as costlier deluxe versions, to make up for the lower 25 percent profit margin. It's also expected that these numbers would give fans the incentive to actually buy the physical product to compete with digital sales as digital sales have long had a $9.99 per album rate.
* Natalie Mejia, who is a member of the pop group Girlicious, was charged with possession with intent to sell after cops found a dozen plastic bags of cocaine in her purse. Girlicious, for those who don't remember, which I'm sure is all of you, is the Pussycat Dolls' reality show spinoff group that had done nothing even remotely noteworthy until this. The best part of the entire story is that according to the AP, "Mejia said the drugs were not hers and claimed she didn't know how they got into her purse." The coke fairy strikes again! Feel free to use that defense in court Natalie, I'm sure it will work just as well as "I don't know how they got there 
Being that rap music is a male dominated industry, a field where sex, money and drugs are the overwhelming choices for subject matter; the odds are immediately stacked against any woman trying to build a credible name, without staining that name first. In the 90's, practically every "First Lady" of a crew was rumored to or admitted to having sexual relations with the alpha male her clique. And for which reason? Maybe it was an initiation? Maybe it was a trade-off of sex for production. Maybe she actually thought she was in a relationship when it was nothing more than a way to have a control 
I can like the latest "I'm from the country song," even if I am tired of the trend, because I like the vocal or the melody is nice or, in the case of Josh Thompson's "Way Out Here" and Easton Corbin's "A Little More Country Than That," the sentiments actually feel authentic. I can like a Taylor Swift song, I can like a George Jones song (his "new" collection The Great LOST Hits is superb), I can like a Colt Ford song, I can like, well you get my point. I love music, particularly the various strands of the country genre, so much that I tend to like most of what I hear. So if that is a fault of mine, it's a good fault to have, in my humble opinion.
I just polished off Cherie Currie's Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway on a round trip flight to Los Angeles last weekend. For me, this was a page turner that I 
In Hip-Hop, the "First Lady Effect" has hurt the growth of the female emcee population since day 1. This effect promoted the fact that there is only one female, and she doesn't play well with others. She is angry for no apparent reason, with a Gladiator's mentality. In her eyes, most likely the record labels eyes, there could only be one woman in her crew and one woman in the industry; and the objective was to be both.
Being a huge fan of music, I learned of American Idol and watched it from the first season. The success of Kelly Clarkson and Chris Daughtry, Clay Aiken and Carrie Underwood may have made Idol a viable television property and given the music industry one more outlet to find talent. But rarely has it offered up an interesting topic for debate such as the presence of teen country singer Haeley Vaughn on Season 9's roster of 24 contestants. While she ultimately didn't make it past the Top 20 round, Haeley Vaughn brings out an interesting discussion: race and country music, and in particular, the lack of diversity in the genre. If you were to head to any record store (or Best Buy) near you, the only non-white country singers you'll find are a couple of Hispanic artists, and Darius Rucker and Charley Pride. And maybe, if the store still has them, a Rissi Palmer record. 
* As if Jon Bon Jovi hadn't amassed enough cool points for ten lifetimes, during his current tour he's taking some time to visit some very unlikely places, such as LA's Skid Row and a shelter for hardcore alcoholics in Seattle. According to the AP, the very untraditional stops are a part of his plan to gather ideas and inspiration to shape his own Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation. The foundation fights homelessness by building affordable housing, establishing community kitchens, and cleaning up vacant lots in rundown neighborhoods. You just gotta love this guy. He's a rock star who married his high school sweetheart, can sell ou 
Pop Tart: Britney Spears - Britney was the female face of pop music for quite a few years. She was the first, and still only, female artist in the Neilsen Soundscan era to have her first four albums debut a 
Far is one of my favorite bands ever, with their last studio album, 1998's Water & Solutions, being one of my most favorite records of all time. It's desert isle listening. It was completely slept on and criminally underlooked – or was it overlooked? - by the music-purchasing public. That's a bit of a dual-edged sword. Perhaps if more people had been lucky enough to have discovered and loved the band, perhaps their career wouldn't have taken a 12-year break! Or perhaps it would have imploded and they would not have found their way back to one another via a playful cover of an R&B song by Gi 
* There's really only one place to start this week's Pop Shots and it's with John Mayer and his "white supremacist" junk. In the Playboy interview heard round the internets, Mayer dropped the N-bomb and proclaimed his penis was a white supremacist. In the same interview he also described Jessica Simpson as "sexual napalm" (side note to Jessica - I love the smell of napalm in the morning). Mayer's done the usual "I'm sorry" thing, and personally I'm willing to give my fellow Fairfielder a pass on this one. Who I'm NOT willing to give a pass is Rolling Stone. As a subscriber I expect THEM 
As I type this column getting ready for the Super Bowl, sad that the football season is truly over, I am wondering how the hell just 30 miles south of where I live in North Jersey, just 11 miles from Manhattan, they got clobbered with 6 inches of snow and just 60 miles south of that, they got blasted with 27 inches of snow. We didn't have flake in NYC, so I guess I should listen to Lewis Black, the comedian, when he says don't listen to the group of assholes who make up the Weather Channel! The point? South Jersey a lot; North Jersey, just a little. It reminded me of a discussion I had on Friday with bassist Alan Robert, of Life of Agony. We were guesting on a podcast together and we were talking about how bands play albums in their entirety now, when these a 
* Despite published reports, and tweets, there was much less of a fall out within Fall Out Boy than many first believed. According to Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump, the group is taking some time off for members to pursue other endeavors, but there's zero animosity between any of them. Wentz was quoted by the AP saying that it's all been "blown out of proportion." Fans should not be expecting a solo project from Wentz, though, as he noted that's never been an aspiration of his. As an aside, how wild is it that a band named after a comic book character from The Simpsons had a shorter run than the cartoon it came from? Yes, I just managed to make this a story about The Simpsons' l 
* Former American Idol and current country superstar Carrie Underwood will be singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl this Sunday. Underwood is a fantastic choice for the job, but I wonder how the Cowboys feel about the fact that people their quarterback used to date are getting to the Super Bowl before he is. Ah, well, at least it's not Jessica Simpson, right Tony?
The simple answer is that while talented and worthy of their record deal due to the fact that Fast Ryde's members James Harrison and Jody Stevens can actually sing, I have to disapprove of the whole "autotune" trend. Not because songs like their upcoming single "Top Down" use the technique but because I don't think it has a place in ANY music genre. It takes the parts I like best about a song, vocal ability, and has the ability to make an bad singer sound melodic when the world knows that not everyone can carry a tune. I'm a 
Into Another featured ex-members of many definitive NYHC bands. Go ahead, Wikipedia them. I'll wait. If you ain't got the time for that, allow me to break it down. Vocalist Richie Birkenhead sang for Underdog and played guitar for Youth of Today, so his scene cred and points skyrocketed for those who care about such things! Drummer Drew Thomas cut his teeth in Bold, nailed to the "X" as they were. Late bassist Tony Bono, who passed away in '02, was in thrash outfit Whiplash. So Into Another's individual members had impressive and interesting p 
After I hit up a local 'happy hour,' I thought about my opposition. I thought about those that still take rap seriously and came to a conclusion. First, it seems that each individual who loves rap has his or her own definition of what's 'real.' An emcee arises from nowhere with precise delivery, a solid cadence, efficient story telling with occasional religious references, and immediately receives the weight of the industry on his back before his debut album is released. People may not realize why they love Jay Electronica so much in such a short time. But to me, it's obvious that he fits the mold of the tools I just described. He has been given the 'real hip-hop' 
American Idol is back and last week the biggest star the show has ever produced, music industry mogul Simon Cowell, has announced that this year will be his last with America's #1 show. This shouldn't come as news to anyone who knows of Cowell's career in the UK, where he left Idol after 2 years to produce his own show called The X-Factor. Idol ended when Simon left it in the UK and while that's somewhat likely to be true in the USA (the show will continue for at least a few more seasons), The X-Factor has an interesting thing going for it. 
* Wonder where Beyonce was on New Year's Eve? Singing and dancing for the son of a mass murdering dictator, of course! Yes, that's right, while the rest of us were ringing in 2010 with some lighthearted revelry, Jay-Z's wifey was taking home a cool two mil for a performance for Muatsim Gaddafi, who is the third son of the Libyan leader Muammar-al Gaddafi. For those who need a primer, the elder Gaddafi is the dictator is Libya who has financed and run terrorist attacks that have killed thousands over the years. Hearing the news of Beyonce performing for the son of such a tyrant has prompted numerous old high school classmates of hers to say "man, had I known back then she'd say yes to anyo 
What I'd like to do is give you a rundown of who I am as a fan of Rap music, so that as you follow my work, you'll be familiar with my foundation. In the late 80's, I was too young to change the radio dial or dare to take the needle off a vinyl. On the weekends, I spent time with my teenaged cousins that came home from their jobs with a bag of vinyl's. Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Special Ed, MC Lyte, NWA, Eric B. and Rakim, KRS-One, the records just kept spinning and I loved it. MC Lyte was my first crush, and to this day, whenever I cross paths with her, my mouth goes numb on me. Special Ed's ‘I Got It Made' was the first song I memorized, as well as the first instrumental I freestyle'd on. Chuck D and KRS-One were my favorite emcee's and are still in my Top 5 to this day. Because to me, Ra 
Another artist who is releasing their debut album on February 23 is Sarah Buxton, a compelling vocalist who has been trying since 2008 to get singles to stick at radio. Running up against the 'anti-female' bias that I talked about in a previous column, Buxton finally hit with the perpetually optimistic "Outside My Window." The singer, who also wrote Keith Urban's "Stupid Boy," is happy to finally have a record coming out, particularly since she's already been inside the Top 30 once before. 
One of those songs is Stone Temple Pilots' "The Big Empty," from the Crow soundtrack. That's arguably one of the best soundtracks of all time, but that song always stood out to me because it was a moody, dank ballad with sucker punch lyrics. If you're not familiar or have not heard the song in some time, it goes a little something like this: "Time to take her home / her dizzy head is conscience laden / Time to take a ride / It leaves today / No conversation / Tim 
* Brace yourselves. Are you sitting down? If not, why are you at the computer standing up? Regardless... Hannah Montana will soon be coming to an end. Yes, it has been announced that the upcoming fourth season (has it really only been around for four seasons?) will be the show's last. Something tells me Miley will still be able to get along OK, but the race is on for which of Disney's teen stars will break out next. Demi Lovato? Selena Gomez? Someone I'm totally unaware of because I only tune in to Disney when I sit on the remote control and it changes the channel?
* If you live anywhere near a radio, a nightclub, or basically any English speaking human life, you're probably familiar with Ke$ha's breakout hit "TiK ToK." No matter how you feel about the song, get used to it. For the week ending Dec 27th Ke$ha set a sales record moving 610,000 units of the song digitally, which is the highest one week total ever for a female artist, and second highest one week total overall. "TiK ToK's" lyrics may be the definition of vapid, but when discussing the song with a prominent DJ (whaddup Halo) we both noted that despite its content "TiK ToK's" verses and hooks are put together really well musically and the song is a DJs best friend when it comes to getting people on a dance floor. Ke$ha actually ha 
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The Zac Brown Band are so good live that they blew the roof off of the Sommet Center in Nashville during the CMA Awards broadcast ripping the Charlie Daniels Band's "Devil Went Down To Georgia" like it was a brand-new track. That performance, quite frankly, is the performance that cemented the band as the band that can finally take the 'biggest band in 
* If you ever wanted to see a Disney star and 
Dime affected my life in so many ways – still does- in the legacy he left behind. I know you can' 
* Adam Lambert, and the person who booked him for the American Music Awards, are geniuses. The AMA people had to have known Lambert was going to do something shocking, which would make the AMAs a talking point for days after it aired, and at the same time, Lambert had to know the AMAs would be the perfect venue to officially shed his "American Idol contestant" tag and become a star on his own. Why mention Idol when you can now mention Lambert's gay kiss and fully-clothed simulated oral sex? Some foolish commentators are calling the decrying of Lambert's gay kiss a double standard as there was little offense taken when Madonna, Britney and Christina locked lips on TV a handful of years ago. Those criti 
Thank you Slayer, Megadeth and Testament for agreeing to appear on the American Carnage tour in the good ole US of A in 2010. Winter is a miserable time of year, with the cold, gray skies, so knowing that the three of you will be bringing the metal up our asses in January and February gives us a reason to actually look forward to Old Man Winter. I'll be even more thankful if you guys decide to perform with one another... for a song? A solo? A chorus? Something? Wishful thinking, I am sure. But what's life without hopes and dreams? Remember what Tim Robbins' character said in 
* New Moon owns the universe. Everyone knew the film would do well, but I don't think anyone could have predicted its $72.7 million dollar opening day. $72.7 million is a nice chunk of change for an opening day. Actually, it's the nicest chunk of change ever for an opening day. I don't know where Harry Potter is right now, but someone needs to let him know that his time is up. The vamps from Twilight have a stranglehold on pop culture until further notice... or until someone gives Buffy Summers a call. That's one girl Edward Cullen does not want to see!
There were arguments about Taylor Swift even being nominated let alone win the category for Female Vocalist. So imagine these same folks surprise when country music's teen queen took home the award. Carrie Underwood's massive and extremely loyal fans immediately 
In my mind, I immediately think of albums I love – 
However, a very good friend of mine, who has been supporting me while I've been nursing my very broken, very damaged, will-take-very-long-to-heal heart, sent me a song over IM the other day that really clicked with me on multiple levels. And it dawned on me, had she and I not been chatting, I might never have discovered the song! I was glad she and I were communicating about what's going on in my life and she was able to send 
* Video game creator Activision is finding themselves in hot water again for the way they're using musicians' likenesses in their "Hero" games. First they were called out by the surviving members of Nirvana and Courtney Love for making Kurt Cobain a playable character in Guitar Hero 5 for ANY song, and now No Doubt is suing the video game company for the same issue, this time with Band Hero making Gwen Stefani available for ANY song. According to an interview with the LA Times, No Doubt's manager Jim Guerinot said the band "agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up (and) never even asked." I'm sorry, I like No Doubt a lot, but if you're THAT concerned about your image, don't sign away you 
Next Wednesday is the 43rd CMA Awards telecast and while it is guaranteed to be a star-studded affair, there are a couple of things to look for when the awards are handed out. While contests for single, song, male vocalist, group and duo are pretty much easy to call, the awards for "Entertainer of the Year" and Female Vocalist of the Year and "Album of the Year" are harder to call because the music industry's biggest star, Taylor Swift is in contention. Of the three awards, the only one that critics of Miss Swift will begrudgingly give her is "Album of the Year" because it was country music's most popular album, even if it was more popular with pop fans than ‘true country fans.' That being said, there are rumors of a revolt waiting to happen if Miss Swift takes the Female Vocalist award away from people like Carrie Underwood or Martina McBride. Quite simply, Swift winning anything over Underwood is enough to make Carrie's fans go insane; as they already love to compare Underwood to anything Swift does, as if it's some sort of contest for best and prettiest and all the rest 
* 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.
Garth Brooks recently announced an exclusive engagement with Steve Wynn and the Wynn Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. For the next five years, as Garth's youngest daughter grows up, he will be playing shows for most of the weekends throughout the year. I always expected Garth to come out of retirement to do something like this but I never expected him to do it exclusively in Vegas. I figured that he would follow George Strait's model. That is to do 20-30 dates a year in arenas or stadiums and only on Friday or Saturday so that he would be home with his kids the rest of the time. It made perfect sense to me. Then again, I forget who I'm talking about. Garth Brooks is a master marketer. He, like the Beatles and Michael Jackson, understood that the power of an artist is not only in touring but in owning the music they record and once he became the man, he bought his publishing, the master recordings of his songs were bought back from Capitol Nashville and EMI and finally, he controlled when and where a single would go out. Some would call him selfish or something but he was 
Halloween is upon us, and that's quite the metal holiday, isn't it? Ghouls, ghosts, goblins and gore show in quite a bit of metal lyrics, regardless of the date! I just got a copy of the new Slayer album, World Painted Blood, which is due out next month and of course it's Slayeriffic in every way that you'd expect and it arrives at my post office box at the most appropriate of times. The promo came packaged like biohazardous material. (Speaking of Biohazard, didja hear that bassist/singer Evan Seinfeld and his porno queen wife Tera Patrick are splitsville?) The music? It came wrapped in fast, unforgiving Kerry King riffs. It's a good year for metal when a new Slayer album drops. I have the inside track on some incredible Slayer touring information for next year. All I can see it's going to be metal and it's going to be good. Better than good. A headbanger's wettest dream. 
It's sometimes tough to be a country music fan. There are the old jokes where if you play a country song backwards that you get everything back that you lost in the song. It's the genre people love to hate yet what keeps me a fan of the genre, is the fact that it is (mostly) real. Take the new song "Why" from Rascal Flatts, whatever you may like to say about the band and their music, you cannot deny the power of this song which simply asks "why did you leave the stage in the middle of your song?" It's a metaphor about ending life too soon and the song has hit home for me as I remember my high school friend who felt life wasn't worth living. I wanted to say the words that I hear in "Why" for so long that the song easily brings up that long suppressed emotion to the surface, where I can actually move on from the pain of losing a best-friend.
The fact that Columbia dropped the duo doesn't surprise me, like coaches in professional sports, it is the inevitable fact that artists are bound to, at some point, be let go from their contract. What is surprising to me is the fact that Columbia Records cut bait so quickly after their single "Address In The Stars" failed to ignite at radio, after radio had requested i 
* Lady Gaga and Kanye West - Fame Kills was going to be the name of the tour, but the only killing it did was of itself. Apparently ticket sales were poor, although that should really come as no surprise as, despite both being pop radio faves, Gaga and Kanye's fan bases don't exactly crossover. So in essence, this was a tour where fans of each artist were asked to pony up a healthy increase in the amount they would normally have to pay for a ticket just because an artist they have little to no interest 
* The internet can be a great way for artists to communicate with their fans. Unfortunately, it can also be a haven for negativity. Lily Allen found this out the hard way last week when she posted a blog about her thoughts on illegal downloading and the resulting conflagration turned into such a huge mess that she ended up taking down the blog and then announcing she has no plans to extend her recording contract once it's up. Does this mean that Lily Allen could be done making music? Personally, I hope not, and I hope that she keeps voicing her opinions on music industry related topics, as well. Even if people think she says the wrong thing at times isn't that better than the artists who say nothing at all, or the artists who simply say what 
During the first week of September, Carrie Underwood was 'forced' to release a track that she had intended to release the following week (on September 8), with enough time to get it quickly up the charts, but thanks to an unknown person with access to unfinished 'demos' or 'working tapes' of Underwood's "Cowboy Cassanova," her record label was 'forced' to put the official song out early. While I love the internet for many reasons, of which giving me a career is one, the net also has to be derided when things like this happen. 
From the moment I saw Danny Gokey perform on American Idol's 8th season this past spring I thought that he would transition into a contemporary country music career quite nicely. The reasoning was simple. Danny Gokey would've been an odd fit for any genre but country music, except maybe for Contemporary Christian Music (CCM).
Back to school. For the kids, at least. And teachers! Leaves will fall. Bring on the football and the fall classic - The World Series! This is definitely my favoritest time of the year and I look forward to yanking the quintessential item of comfort clothing out of my closet: the hoodie! Seriously, hoodies are like the macaroni and cheese of clothes! They are comfy, cozy and you can totally sink into them for utilitarian purposes, as the weather chills, all the while sporting the logo of your favorite band or sports team. I love zip up hoodies; I wear one almost every day in fall and winter. I have dozens from bands, but I urge any ladies who read this column and desire a feminine fit for their hoodies (and who don't shop at American Eagle or Hollister for their basics) to do yourself and favor and peep 
* With so many terrible things going on in the world I think it's great to hear Michael Franti's "Say Hey (I Love You)" getting major airplay. Franti and his band, Spearhead, have always been one of the most politically active groups in music, but with the fun and beautiful "Say Hey" they may be making their greatest statement yet - it's cool to be happy and say how much you love someone. It may sound pretty basic, but it's said so rarely nowadays that when someone finally does sing about it again it brings about a really refreshing vibe. Heck, every time I hear the song I just want to grab the first cute girl I see and start dancing with her. In fact ... you, over there ... let's make it happen lit 
* This past week Chris Brown was finally sentenced for his assaulting of Rihanna. He ended up with no actual jail time, but five years probation, an order to stay away from Rihanna until 2014, fines, counseling, community service, and strict orders to "abstain from the use of all alcoholic beverages and stay out of places where they are the chief item of sale." So how did Brown celebrate staying out of the slammer? By immediately violating the terms of his probation, of course! Just one day, ONE DAY, after having his sentence handed down to him Brown was seen living it up at a 21+ nightclub where, you guessed it, alcoholic beverages were the chief item of sale. Is this a case of a celebrity scoffing the law 
I'm totally feeling the new Converge record, 
Yeah, I know - you're only as old as you feel, right? There may be some truth to that, but I remember how I felt at 20 and there would be a serious problem if I still felt that way at 40. Aside from a few moments here and there, most normal people grow and mature and would look like idiots if they were still acting like teenagers while old enough to have their own. We've all seen that one guy in the club that, to paraphrase Chris Rock, isn't old but is a little too old for the club. Slightly out of date style, grey hair in cornrows, drinking a cup of brown liquor - no one wants to be that guy, and I'm starting to wonder how much more time I can listen to Rap before I become him.
Nevertheless, I did take in a live show on Tuesday night in Anaheim, which is home to Disneyland. Now, many of you may scoff at or guffaw at the Magic Kingdome, but I absolutely heart it there. It's a nice escape to feel like a kid again, and you can just ride the rides and enjoy the splendor, wonder and magic of the innocence of the Disney character. Sure, the food is overpriced and so is the park, but sometimes, you get what you pay for? Ever buy a cheap blue tooth for $30 that barely lasts for the same amount of days? Point taken, right? So I went to see Down and The Melvin 
* Singer/Actress Vanessa Hudgens had more nude photos "leaked" onto the internet this past week, just in time to coincide with the hype for her latest movie, Bandslam. Part of me is slightly disgusted for thinking that all this could be intentional. The pics were from when she was 17 and I really don't want to think someone in her camp felt the best way to get press was to "leak" naked pictures of their then underage star. This is Hollywood we're talking about, though, so I wouldn't put it past someone to do it. In a related story, where can I find a girl who's gonna snap some phone camera pics like that for me? (Only those over 18 need apply.)
Last weekend Kenny Chesney brought his "Sun City Carnival Tour" to Seattle's Qwest Field with support from Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry and Sugarland. While experiencing the show from the 5th row near the right side of the stage, I got to thinking that there are very few artists who could pack a stadium the way that Chesney does. In the pop/rock world there's U2, Paul McCartney, the Stones and maybe Dave Matthews Band but after that hardly anyone else would have a chance. Rap and hip-hop? Sorry Jay-Z and Diddy, you could barely pack an arena, let alone get people to come to stadiums. Perhaps Eminem could if he had proper support. That's about it. 
This is the week of rock shows. A few years ago, I attended north of 150 shows per year. I have scaled back a bit – out of fatigue and a desire to go to shows to truly enjoy them, as opposed to rack up miles on the show-dometer! I still hit around 100 per year, and I find myself loving them more than by over-attending too many shows. I also don't think there are as many shows, with venues closing down left and right, then opening, hosting a few bands and then never heard from again. That said, I am hitting up Killswitch Engage in New Jersey, playing an "off date" from this summer's Rock Star Energy Mayhem Fest, which wraps up in two weeks. (Where the eff did the summer go??) While some other metal artists have 
* Entertainment Weekly just came out with their list of the Top 20 film and TV vampires of all-time and it's a list that totally sucks up (pun intended) to the new vamps on the block, Twilight and True Blood, as well as Tom Cruise (Number ONE?!?! What, did he write the damned article?), while completely ignoring some of my personal faves. Thankfully, they gave Angel a mention at seven, but nowhere on the list were his fellow Buffy bloodsuckers Spike, Drusilla and Darla. The list also ignored Dark Shadows and left off the greatest TV vamp of all - Count von Count, aka The Count, from Sesame Street. I mean, if you can include a Twilight character you can include a Sesame Street character, they pract 
I don't have to go into the history of Eminem's antics but suffice to say that some have questioned whether or not the litany of starlets he likes to prod in his music are actually fair game. Those situations have never really amounted to terribly much so neither did that debate, but with the recent feud with Mariah Carey (and Nick Cannon by extension) getting pretty high up off the ground, a few people are again wondering if Eminem is going too far.
* While I'm thrilled that Shakira managed to work the word lycanthropy into her latest single, "She Wolf," I'm saddened to say it doesn't change the fact that the song is all kinds of terrible. I am a huge Shakira fan, but "She Wolf" is way below standards for her. It doesn't show off her vocal range, it has a weak "produced" sounding beat, and at its very core it's basically a "lite" pop song. I never thought I'd say it, but Shakira has given us fluff. The Shakira I love has huge vocals and musically dynamic songs. Can we find that Shakira and bring her back?
It's been under works for years and features every hot rapper in the game either writing verses or appearing themselves. Close to 500 tracks have been recorded and Dr. Dre has been taking piano lessons from Burt Bacharach. Dre has barely left his house for four years and he may have gone mad while trying to finish the work. He's spent millions recording the album that he doesn't care if he ever makes back. He's hired a full time orchestra to record every note. It'll come out this Christmas. It'll be made of gold. Jesus and John Lennon recorded verses but they might not get used. Detox can cure cancer.
While Pride found that audience, his first records were initially issued to radio stations without any pictures because of race relations, particularly in the south. After a few hits it seemingly didn't matter. Strangely, after Pride's last hits in 1985, country music didn' 
It was bound to happen sooner or later - we've run out of cool things to name our new rappers. Older MCs like Ice Cube, Busta Rhymes and Mos Def have taken all the clever names, leaving the newer generation without any good options. While there may be a case for starting to recycle old names like jersey numbers (retiring the best ones but keeping most open for later), we don't have anything like that in place for the time being so we get to listen to records by dudes named Papoose.
Happy Summertime, 101D-listers! I know I'm a little late with that greeting, but I was too busy trying to scale the walls of the world finding new music for you to sink your ears into. So yeah, summer is good. Hot weather, cold food, hot people. It's always the summertime that brings the freaks to the streets. When all of that happens, you know that trouble is right around the corner. Speaking of trouble, that brings me to my pick this week. The artist's name is Lenka and she's Australian. You've probably already heard her, as MTV has been abusing a few songs off her self-titled debut album. 
In the 1990s the Jayhawks released quite a few albums where they received high praise from critics for their countrified rock. The band's albums "Hollywood Town Hall" and "Tomorrow The Green Grass" were and remain some of the most seminal albums of their period. The band survived the loss of Mark Olson, a co-founder, co-writer and co-leader of the Jayhawks to make "Smile" in 2000 and The New York Times said "What if you made a classic and nobody cared?" The Jayhawks did, at least two more times before calling it quits. Plenty of other artists in recent memory have made classics only to see the mainstream "not care."
* With her latest single, "It's Alright, It's OK," Ashley Tisdale is becoming everything pop radio wanted Kelly Clarkson to be. Thankfully, it's a much more fitting position for Tisdale. This is not a knock on Clarkson. I actually think the former American Idol winner could be making some truly timeless music if given the opportunity (blues or soul anyone?), but pop music just doesn't suit her well, at least not like it suits Tisdale. I also like the way Tisdale is being positioned as the next level up in maturity from Miley Cyrus. Some folks may forget that, despite co-starring in three movies titled High School Musical… you remember, Tisdale was the one who didn't have the nudie pics show up on the web… she's actually 24 years old. Side note - is there any doubt the 2000's will be remembered as the decade Disney just kept crankin out the pop stars?
This summer has spawned multiple reunion tours among successful acts that thrived in the 80s and 90s. While I am excited to see artists that I was formerly too young to attend their concert, this weekend has made me realize that the reformation of these musicians isn’t a product of newfound creativity, but rather a greed-driven attempt for more cash. 
Gather 'round the campfire, 101D-listers. Mama has a story. So a few years back I wrote for this magazine, right, and one of my duties was reviewing awful CDs. No seriously, I don't think I ever came across a CD that was good. So this one time (at band camp) I had to review an album called Listen Again, a compilation mixed by Rob da Bank and Chris Coco. Who? Exactly. It's a good thing I actually care about my job, because I suffered through this CD sucking on a Ring Pop because I felt like I was in some ecstasy laced hell. Then, I hear this strange computerized yet sultry voiced man go "Hello Sweet Pie..." My ears perked up while he whispered into the track seducing the voice that followed which said, "Yes, Boss. I'm on the mic. I'll try to give you what you like." The song was really just a parade of digital sounds, while this mildly perverse conversation going on seemed to substantiate it. The song was called "Yess Boss" and the group's name was Hess Is More.
* When I first heard my local radio DJ announce they were going to play Jordin Sparks' latest single, "Battlefield," I held my breath praying it wasn't going to be a remake of the Pat Benatar classic "Love is a Battlefield." Thankfully, it wasn't. What Sparks did instead was put together a single that might finally launch her into the second tier of pop stars (which is the tier right under the Lady Gagas and Katy Perrys of the world). Even though American Idol voters are wrong the vast majority of the time (seriously folks, how can you claim to love a singer and then not even buy their album once you've made them the winner), Sparks may have just needed a little time to grow into the pop star role. Heck, if more young artists were given that opportunity to grow who knows what the pop scene would look like right now.
With Michael Jackson’s memorial service edging near and his video dedications on VH1 fading away, I am starting to spark curiosity about his assets. Particularity his ownership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s song catalogue, Northern Songs, which contains every song written by the pair, leading up to the Beatles legal separation in 1971. For those unfamiliar, Michael Jackson currently owns the rights to most of these songs that have been estimated to value over 600 million. 
The reasoning for this is very, very simple. So simple, in fact, that people don't want to admit it. Kids are trying to carve their own identities so while they will like stuff their parents played while very young, by the time they hit their teens, they want to like something different, something new, something fresh, something that they can call their own. There are other factors involved (peer pressure to like what everyone else likes), but basically this is the root of musical 'evolution.' It's what ge 
Dragonette came together when husband and wife combo Dan and Martina met. Cool Canadians, they shipped off to the UK with buddy Joel and met Will there. Now they're a band. They're signed to Universal and are destined for big things when the world finally gets to hear them properly. Perez Hilton is a big fan if that means anything to you. 
* Katy Perry's One of the Boys just celebrated its one year anniversary on B 
Musical taste remains purely subjective, allowing nearly everyone to claim an album or song "life-changing." Rolling Stone Magazine has compiled a list citing the "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" placing The Bealtes' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band" in the top slot, to which many respond positively. If musical taste is in fact based on personal preference, wouldn't everyone have a different number one?
Born to a family of gypsies, Neon was raised in the greenery of the UK and as a child w 
* Lady Gaga is pretty much queen of the pop world right now and there are plenty of people, myself included, who are very happy about that. Her label, Interscope Records, however, never saw it coming. In fact, they originally thought of her as nothing more than a niche artist that 
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