With good friends, you don’t have to judge them on what they do, you love them for who they are and how they make you feel whenever they’re around. They can mess up, they can excel, you’re just happy to be along for the ride.

Jamie T feels like a good friend to me. I’ve never met him personally, never had any contact at all, in fact. But I’m always pleased to see him, always keen to hear his latest tall story or dewey-eyed ode to happier days. I like the cut of his jib, the things he notices, the fact that he’s strong enough to admit weakness, the fact that he’s a geezer who can write a tender, string-laden ditty like this and not go all EPIC/HUGE about it.

Hell, he’s even toned down the swearing, so that everyone can enjoy its scuffed magic, and it doesn’t mess with the sense of the thing or sanitise the reality of the situation in the song at all.

(Here’s the video. “Mum I TOLD you we should’ve gone to Disneyland!”)

Not that there’s a lot you can do to sanitise a song sung from the floor, by a singer who is dying, after being shot by his girlfriend for messing her about. It doesn’t matter if the bullets are metaphorical or real, the message is the same: some rules are not there to be broken, and if you do, the consequences will be dire.

There’s no bitterness though. Jamie accepts his punishment with good grace, realising that he always knew that Emily was hardcore, and he was a fool to himself to try and get away with it. And it’s that lack of self-pity, that calm, clear-eyed understanding that really, he got what was coming to him, that he knew the risks when he did what he did, and that Emily is quite right to BE hardcore about her own finer feelings, it’s all of that which makes this such a beautiful thing.

No-one is saying guns are good, or that shooting your low-down cheating boyfriend is the right thing to do in any circumstances, it’s just a song about that moment when you realise you’re the agent of your own downfall. Somehow a slap on the face wouldn’t get the message across in the same way.

Just as well they’re not real bullets anyway, we’d all miss a good friend like Jamie something awful.

Download: Out now
CD Released: March 15th
www.jamie-t.com
BBC Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

View full post on BBC Audio & Music | Radio 1 Chart Blog

This week Rolling Stone’s Daniel Kreps breaks down the Gorillaz’s Plastic Beach in our New Music Report. Kreps admits he didn’t immediately hear anything as instantly grabby as Demon Days‘ “DARE” or Gorillaz’s “Clint Eastwood” on their new disc — the closest relation here is the single “Stylo,” a catchy electro number that features Mos Def and Bobby Womack. But Plastic Beach is a real grower, and now he’s convinced it’s Damon Albarn’s most impressive work since Blur’s 13. With each listen, new highlights emerge, like the Think Tank-ish “Empire Ants” and his personal favorite, “To Binge,” which features the Swedish group Little Dragon. Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, and members of the Clash and De La Soul all cameo on the disc, but the smaller artists — Little Dragon and U.K. rappers Bashy and Kano — make the biggest impact.

Catch up on all of Rolling Stone’s album reviews.

>>Watch every episode of our weekly New Music Report video podcast by subscribing via iTunes (when prompted, click “Launch application”). Every Tuesday, a new episode will be delivered to your iTunes. [If you don't have iTunes, download it here.]

View full post on Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

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Lady Gaga in “Telephone”


Photo: Interscope Records

On Thursday at 11:30 p.m. ET, fans will finally get to see the “Telephone” video by Lady Gaga, featuring collaborator Beyoncé and pals Semi Precious Weapons. Shot in California in February and directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the video has Gaga’s little monsters salivating in anticipation of its release.

Although we don’t know everything that’s going to happen, there are certain leaked details that are giving us a few ideas of what we can expect — Lady Gaga is in jail, Beyoncé breaks her out and from there, we imagine, the two have some wacky adventures that include them stopping at a desert diner. So far, here are the clues we’ve gathered:

Lady Gaga will be wearing some crazy outfits. In leaked photos, she’s been seen wearing everything from crime-scene tape to American flag garb to a telephone-shaped eye patch made from hair. She’s also been seen in a studded leather jacket and a sparkly strapless dress, with cigarette sunglasses on, covered in heavy chains. Beyoncé also appears to be getting her fashion on in a military-style, jewel-encrusted blue top.

Gaga was inspired by Quentin Tarantino. Uma Thurman’s ride from “Kill Bill” appears in the video and Semi Precious Weapons confirmed that the video certainly had nods to Quentin Tarantino, something Gaga and Beyoncé also touched on in their “Video Phone” clip. “It’s very Tarantino-inspired,” frontman Justin Tranter shared. “Sort of like violent melodrama glamour.”

She got “crazy” and “magical” on set with Beyoncé. “It’s gonna be so crazy,” B said about working with Gaga on the video. And, Semi Precious Weapons added that the girls are kind of “magical” together. “Obviously, Gaga’s one of the greatest music visionaries of our time,” Tranter said. “And Beyoncé is one of the greatest visions of our time. She is a music visionary too.”

This video will leave “Bad Romance” in the dust. Simply put from Gaga herself, “I feel so bad for the ‘Bad Romance’ video ’cause the ‘Telephone’ video’s so much better. [Beyoncé's] really a great friend of mine. We have a lot of fun working together. We’re so very different in our approaches, but somehow when we come together it’s really magical. I’m very excited for everyone to see the video.”

The clip picks up where “Paparazzi” leaves off. Both Beyoncé and Gaga herself have confirmed that the video picks up where the other Åkerlund-directed clip, “Paparazzi,” leaves off. So what exactly does that mean? Well, perhaps the “Paparazzi” heroine has been jailed for the crime of killing her lover (played by “True Blood” star Alexander Skarsgård) and now it takes the one and only Beyoncé to bust her loose.

Are you excited for the “Telephone” video? How will you celebrate the premiere? Let us know in the comments below!

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Mamie Gummer has been cast in Shonda Rhimes‘ new medical drama Off the Map.

Caroline Dhavernas snags lead in Off the Map

Gummer, Meryl Streep’s 26-year-old daughter who recently guest-starred in The Good Wife, will play…

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• Caroline Dhavernas
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View full post on TVGuide.com: Breaking News

Who: Pastoral rockers from Denton, Texas, who first broke through with their 2006 track “Roscoe,” on which the group’s classic-rock-loving frontman Tim Smith sang about life in the 1800s. “I don’t do too well in the present,” he says. “Not that old times were better, but I’m more romantic about the past.”

Sounds Like: The band’s latest disc, The Courage of Others, has a sound influenced by 1960s British acts like Fairport Convention and Pentangle, with Jethro Tull-style flutes and references to maidens and merchant ships.

Vital Stats:

• Smith was a John Coltrane devotee until he reluctantly picked up Radiohead’s OK Computer while at the North Texas College of Music. “I didn’t want to listen to it, because of the name,” he says. “I thought, ‘What’s this, some kind of radio-pop music?’ ”

• Before Midlake embraced chiming guitars and meticulous harmonies, the group was a jazz-funk act. Smith ditched his sax when he joined up with the Texas group, which featured current bandmembers Eric Pulido and Eric Nichelson (guitar), McKenzie Smith (drums) and Paul Alexander (bass).

• Like fellow bearded strummers Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, Midlake recall CSNY and Fleetwood Mac. “You want your music to be ask great as those acts,” says Smith, “But I shouldn’t compare my work with everything that’s ever been done. I mean, you can only do so much before you die.”

Get It Now: Watch the band’s trailer for The Courage of Others up top.

View full post on Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

Corey Haim was in “the best frame of mind” in his life, Corey Feldman said on Larry King Live Wednesday night, adding that people shouldn’t jump to conclusions that his close friend died of a drug overdose.

Corey Haim dead at 38

Haim, who had struggled with addiction for many years, was taken to a Burbank hospital where he was pronounced dead Wednesday morning.

“They need to stop saying it’s a drug overdose,” he told Larry King…

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• Corey Feldman
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• Larry King
• Larry King Live

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src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/news/a/american_idol/2010/episode_31010/281x211.jpg"/>



Tim Urban


Photo: Fox

The top eight men took the stage on “American Idol” on Wednesday (March 10), a night when the front-runners staked a claim for their spots in the top 12, and the weaker members of the herd punched their tickets home. When the dust settled, Michael Lynche emerged emerged as the new one to beat with a performance so strong, it brought judge Kara DioGuardi to tears, and seeming also-ran Tim Urban possibly saved himself with his strongest performance to date.

Lee Dewyze made it clear that he intends to hang around, coming out strong with a Dave Matthews-like acoustic ramble through Owl City’s “Fireflies.” It wasn’t always on key, but he made up for it with his infectious charm and barroom sandpaper drawl.

Randy Jackson thought it was too soft a song for Lee’s voice, and a bit pitchy, but he liked how he made it his own, and Kara appreciated the confident vibe he brought to the tune. “There’s nothing to rave about after that,” said Simon Cowell, who didn’t feel his favorite male semifinalist had “a moment” but still displayed solid progress.

As his star has steadily risen on the show, Alex Lambert nailed his song choice with Ray LaMontagne’s weary ballad “Trouble,” a tune that perfectly fit his dry-throated voice and sad-eyed, innocent demeanor.

“The only thing standing in the way of you winning is you right now,” Kara said, praising his unique voice but counseling him to let it rip. Ellen busted out the ripening banana metaphor one more time and said Lambert is getting better and better every week, even as he maintains his innocence. Continuing with the inappropriate advice, Simon said Lambert needs to loosen up, perhaps by imagining Jackson in a bikini.

With two weeks of bad news behind him, Tim Urban went for it by tackling Leonard Cohen’s iconic — and hard-to-sing — “Hallelujah.” Strumming an acoustic guitar, Urban didn’t try to reinvent the wheel but capably hung in there for his strongest effort to date.

Ellen, feeling bad about slagging Urban every week, ran up onstage and hugged him as a kind of apology, and Simon patted himself on the back for giving Urban back his confidence, calling it Tim’s best performance to date. “You walked in some pretty big shoes, and I think you did a pretty good job, Tim,” Randy said, as Kara predicted he might have sung his way back from the brink with his honest, emotional take on the song.

Needing to find his groove again, Andrew Garcia went back to the well for a cover of Christina Aguilera’s breakthrough hit, “Genie in a Bottle.” The Santana-like flamenco/soul take felt like another high point, with Garcia making the song his own.

Kara, though, sensed he was fighting with the melody and straining too hard to recapture his “Straight Up” glory, saying, “It just wasn’t great.” It was a good idea, but too pitchy and not dynamic enough for Randy, though Ellen loved the song choice and wished the genie had come out of the bottle earlier. “It was a little bit desperate,” Simon said.

Casey James went with Keith Urban’s “You’ll Think of Me,” a safe, straightforward acoustic country ballad that highlighted his soulful tone. That’s exactly what Randy thought, encouraging Casey to go edgier and more rock. For Simon, it was James’ second-best effort, one that made him seem sincere and sounded great, even if it was a bit forgettable. His former number-one fan, Kara said she was missing the spark, but was glad he wasn’t trying to be a phony rock star anymore.

A singer seemingly on the bubble, Aaron Kelly, also chose a country tune — Lonestar’s “I’m Already There” — which started out pitchy and tentative and didn’t get much better as he rose from his stool and wiggled awkwardly back and forth, alternating between pure and off-key notes.

The singing wasn’t great for Ellen, but she thought Aaron carried himself like a much older, more experienced singer than he is. “I love you, you come out onstage every week and you give it your all,” said Kara, who then pointed out that the song is about a man calling home to talk to his kids, which just doesn’t make any sense coming from a 16-year-old. Simon, however, totally disagreed, saying it was the right type of song for him and he had the right emotion, even if it wasn’t a great vocal.

Todrick Hall’s philosophy? If you might go home, go big. His unexpected take on Queen’s “Somebody to Love” turned out to be a bold choice for the dancer, who turned the tune into a sanctified gospel showpiece.

“Todrick is back!” Randy announced, calling it one of the best male vocals he’s heard in weeks. Cowell took it down a notch, dubbing the performance more fit for Broadway than an “Idol” recording artist while giving Hall props for performing and not just sitting on a stool and strumming a guitar.

Then Big Mike Lynche brought down the house. He also switched it up, singing British icon Kate Bush’s classic ballad “This Woman’s Work,” evoking Maxwell with his silky, between-the-sheets R&B version.

The praise was unanimous. Simon said it was the best performance of all the live shows so far, Ellen declared the personal trainer the new one to beat, and DioGuardi literally burst into tears at the emotion the new dad put into the tune. All a dumbfounded Randy could say was “Really?”

Four more singers go home Thursday night as this year’s top 12 is revealed.

What did you think of the men’s performances? Who killed it? Who blew it? Who is definitely making it to the top 12? Let us know by leaving your comments below.

Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

Related Photos

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Fo Yo Sorrows VIDEO Big Boi Ft. Too Short and George Clinton from SNORT THIS TV on Vimeo.

A whole battalion of new music videos has made their way onto the Web and for your viewing pleasure Rolling Stone has corralled them into this post. First up is Big Boi’s latest single off his much-anticipated Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty, “Fo Yo Sorrows.” The OutKast rapper had previously promised vids for every track off his solo disc, so like the video above and Boi’s previous “Shine Blockas,” they’ll likely be low-key affairs. That isn’t stopping Big Boi from calling in guests George Clinton and Too $hort to appear in the clip. Any time George Clinton shows up in a music video, we get nostalgic for P.C.U., so definitely check out “Fo Yo Sorrows” above.

For “In the Sun,” She & Him’s first video off their upcoming Volume 2, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward go the High School Musical/Glee route as Deschanel and her clique of peers and teachers go dancing around hallways and classrooms in pursuit of the object of her desire, played here by a way-too-old-to-be-in-high-school Ward. It’s sort of like Feist’s “1, 2, 3, 4″ video combined with Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” clip. Adding authenticity to the sing-along is director Peyton Reed, who previously mastered the art of high school and dancing with his cheerleading flick Bring It On.

Finally, we have the official music video for the Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” that combines the band’s classic track with a ton of new footage from the film The Runaways. In the video, we see Dakota Fanning completely morphing into her role of Cherie Currie, plus brief clips of the cinematic Runaways from their rise to their eventual crash. As Rolling Stone previously reported, both Fanning and Kristen Stewart, who plays Joan Jett, sing on the soundtrack, which is available for pre-order now.

View full post on Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

Is Dancing with the Stars‘ Mirrorball trophy more prestigious than an Olympic gold medal? “It’s hard to say. Olympic gold has been my goal for my whole life,” newly crowned Olympic champion Evan Lysacek tells TVGuide.com. “But the Mirrorball is very prestigious. I first came into this saying, ‘I just want to have fun. I really want to learn to dance because I think it can help my skating.’ But as I started rehearsing and the competitive fire is going, I want to win.” History is on the figure skater’s side: Fellow Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson, Apolo Anton Ohno and Kristi Yamaguchi have all won Dancing. Lysacek thinks he has his work cut out for him. “I’m not graceful at all, so it’s going to be hard, but I’m ready to put in the time,” he says. See what else he has to say about his Dancing experience so far, why he thought his partner would resent him and more.

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• Kate Gosselin
• Chad Ochocinco
• Evan Lysacek
• Jake Pavelka

View full post on TVGuide.com: Breaking News

While we wait patiently for the next new episode of Vampire Diaries (Thursday, March 25, 8/7c on the CW), TVGuide.com talked to executive producers Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson about where the show is heading this spring. Spoiler alert: They reveal key details about the season finale…

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• Ian Somerhalder
• Mia Kirshner
• Kevin Williamson
• David Anders
• Paul Wesley
• Steven R. McQueen
• Nina Dobrev
• Vampire Diaries
• Julie Plec

View full post on TVGuide.com: Breaking News