The Gorillaz haven’t been taking it easy since finishing up their World Tour this past October. They stopped by at the BBC and dropped a 3-song set live, but it was the finale that took everyone by surprised. Listen to this cover of Crystalized from xx and download music from both bands right here.
Linkin Park have returned. Download music from them here and familiarize yourself with their classics. They’ve decided to take on the new generation of music. Let’s see how they do.
It’ll be tough with the new pop resurrection featuring artists like Lady Gaga and Ke$ha. It’s not going to be a cake-walk either with an entire hip hop armada in the wake of headliners. They’ve got factions of underground rock to deal with. And once they’re comfortable with all that, they’ve got their mainstream competition such as Queens of the Stone Age and the Kings Of Leon.
So what’s the game plan? Just to invent new sounds and take their fan base by total surprise. Hey, it worked for their second album, Meteora! I don’t think anybody was expected rap-rockers from the midwest to go ahead and soothe us with transcendent melodies.
I’m eager to see what they do this time. We’ll see it when they start their tour in January.
Linkin Park tour dates:
1/20, Sunrise, FL (Bank Atlantic Center)*
1/22, Tampa, FL (St Pete Times Forum) *
1/23, Atlanta, GA (Phillips Arena) *
1/25, Detroit, MI (Joe Louis Arena) *
1/26, Chicago, IL (United Center) *
1/28, Minneapolis, MN (Xcel Energy Center) *
1/29, Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center) *
1/31, Philadelphia, PA (Wells Fargo Center) *
2/1, Boston, MA (TD Garden) *
2/4, New York, NY (Madison Square Garden) *
2/7, Montreal, QC (Bell Centre) *
2/8, Toronto, ON (Air Canada Centre) *
2/10, Washington DC (Verizon Center) *
2/11, Uncasville, CT (Mohegan Sun) *
2/15, Houston, TX (Toyota Center)#
2/17, Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center) #
2/19, Las Vegas, NV (MGM Grand – Garden Arena) #
2/20, San Diego (Viejas Arena) #
2/23, Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center) #
2/25, Salt Lake City, UT (Energy Solutions Arena) #
2/26, Denver, CO (Pepsi Center) #
* with Pendulum and Does It Offend You Yeah
# with the Prodigy
Lil Wayne
Congratulations are in order for Lil Wayne who has just been released from prison for his possession of 3 illegal guns, 300 pills of E, and 2 pounds of marijuana. Basically the guy was trying to be a legit Scarface and got caught…and sentenced for only a year. Well, either way, he’s out now. Celebrate by listening to some free music from him here.
The United States is no stranger to the pop star circuit as we’ve had acts like Hanson and the Backstreet Boys taking the reigns for years. Now that we’ve evolved past it in terms of our mainstream sound (with the exception of Lady Gaga), Korea has developed an act that multiple audiences are starting to pick up. Download music from all these pop stars here.
JYJ
They’re called JYJ, a trio from South Korea with songs about girls and heart break. Sounds like your typical pop group signature, but they’ve got Kanye West helping them out. That means instant exposure.
Give them a listen and see if Korea has what it takes to bring pop back into the United States with a new swing.
It’d be silly not to see this coming. The cast of Glee has been breaking records left and right with their renditions of classics on their show. Now they’re planning on taking on the holidays full throttle by releasing a Christmas album. Download music from the cast of Glee here.
Recently Glee made headlines by appearing on the Billboard 200 and inching over one of the Beatles records for appearing on the list a certain number of times. Fans of the series rejoiced by buying up all their music, but you can get it for free here. A Christmas album from the cast seems nice, but really the eternal debate is whether or not the cast can announce themselves as legitimate music artists.
The material is not original, but performed in a way that an entirely new generation can appreciate and digest. Does this deserve praise or retribution? And can we attest to them having musical talent? Keithian believes the Glee cast remains talented, but we would like to see what would happen if they were to release some original material. Would the Gleeks (the fans) accept it as much as the Britney Spears and Lady Gaga covers?
Only one way to find out…
This is widely rumored to be for the new installment of the Celebrity Apprentice, but Lil Jon and Meatloaf were spotted outside a pizza place in the boroughs of New York City yesterday. Lil Jon was hammering on cars while Meatloaf played the guitar and asked people to buy pizzas for charity.
I doubt they’re doing this for their own benefit considering both are established musicians, but we do have to rule in the factor that this could be for a publicity stunt.
I highly doubt it considering the background of Trumps Celebrity Apprentice. Even still, this is pretty hilarious. Download music from both artists here.
Taylor Swift has always listened to her fan base throughout her career. She’s scheduled tours based on their growing requests and have even taken roles in films based on their fans suggestions. Due to her age and overwhelming candid approach, she has successfully turned into one of America’s many sweethearts. Download music from Taylor Swift here.
Taylor Swift and a Sweet Car
Now embracing this image, she has announced a mini-campaign to determine what will be her next single. It works like this,
“It’s all based on what fans like the most, and every single decision we’ve made as far as what song to come with next has been based on the fans’ passion level toward that song,”
Admirable, but how do you measure the passion of your fans? Votes? A website?
Nope. This is the truly fun part. She’ll be performing the new tunes on her tour. They’re unannounced, not leaked, and fans have no idea what order they’ll be coming in. The passion will truly be judged based on the crowds response to her music on her tour. I couldn’t think of a better way of determining a single. Artists can take notes on how Taylor Swift interacts with her fans and how they shape her as an artist.
You can view the image here that was banned in the United States for Kanye West’s new album. It’s pretty graphic, but this guy is all about pushing the envelope in everything that he does. This is just another day in the park for him. Download music from him here.
Kanye’s new album isn’t really controversial in the subject matter. In fact, it’s been getting pretty good reviews and has two tracks that have been eating up the airwaves. One of them is Power, which due to his incredible appearance on SNL, has been dominating the charts in hip hop. The rest of the album is just as solid.
So it appears that his lack of pissing people off finally caught up with him and he had this image painted as the cover art to his album. It shows him sitting on a couch with a naked/angel type creature holding what appears to be a pickle. I couldn’t make that up.
Big Time Rush - The Next Boy Band?
Big Time Rush have premiered on the scene and aren’t really backing down in the wake of pop divas and rock bands. It’s a bit difficult to classify their sound, but visually, we do have what appears to be the revival of a boy band. Download music from the band here.
Ok really, they’re just a boy band. It’s easy to classify this sound. We’ve heard this all through out the late 90’s and the early 2000’s. I think it’s a bit too early for music to come full circle. And even if it does, we’ve got a ways to go before we hit the Big Time Rush fan base.
Check out My Chemical Romance sporting their new fashion in the upcoming video for their single Na Na Na. The album comes out this November, but in the mean time here is some free music from the band.
It looks like this video is going to be a show down between the band and a rebel group known as the Kill Joys. Again we see that the band is taking their album in an entirely new direction. It’ll tell a story as the others did, but don’t expect this story to be anything close to what you’ve heard before.
