I wasn’t supposed to be writing about this. There are singles out next week by more notable chart starts with proper pedigrees and stuff; Paolo Nutini, for example, or Plan B. Hell, the Manic Street Preachers have even joined forces with Ian McCulloch from Echo and the Bunnymen (ask your dad), so that’s like a dadrock BOGOF right there.

And it’s not like songs which share common wordal territory with the theme song to Dirty Dancing have been a big hit in my house recently either. Poor old Wolfy has a big job ahead of him if he’s to leapfrog over that lot and secure the all-important ChartBlog seal of approval.

It’s a real seal too, with flippers and a honky-horn and everything.

(Here’s the video. It does exactly what it says on the screen.)

Luckily, he’s more than managed it. And while it is no achievement at all to write a better song than its Black Eyed Peas namesake – the seal of approval has just written two and, he’s only got the one instrument – ‘Time of My Life’ also manages to play the other chart veterans at their own, mature game, and win.

In the past, young Patrick has suffered a little from an excess of personality in his musical endeavours. Writing a whole album on violin and baritone ukulele while strolling around the cliffs of Cornwall, for example. Or making an unabashed day-glo camp pop glitterball of an album and having to watch, downcast, as Mika swanned off to global fame doing much the same thing (only less well).

But this is not that Patrick Wolf. This Patrick Wolf has a determined set to his jaw, and hard-won wisdom in his eye. His new music is sleek and muscular, romantic and passionate. It’s as immaculately arranged as always – dramatic handclaps here, swooshing strings overhead, gently strummed uke behind – but with all of his guns facing in the same direction for once.

Recommended to anyone who has exhausted the pleasures of the Hurts album already, and seal-owners everywhere.

Download: December 6th

patrickwolf.com
BBC Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

Sputnik Music says: “I am incredibly happy because I love him more than words can express”

Pretty Much Amazing says: “Over wide-open violin, Wolf declares “Happy without you” like he doesn’t entirely believe it, but has to.”

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

Damon Albarn and crew bring their live show to his hometown.
By James Montgomery

src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/bands/g/gorillaz/livestream_43010/281x211.jpg"/>



Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn performs at London’s Roundhouse on Thursday


Photo: MTV

There was a British orchestra dressed up as Russian sailors. A New York City rapper made up to look like Abraham Lincoln. Members of the Clash wearing captain’s hats. Swedish and Japanese singers performing barefoot. A high-stepping brass ensemble from Chicago. What can we say? When
Gorillaz put on a show, they really put on a show.

On Friday (April 30), Damon Albarn unleashed his animated all-stars on a sold-out crowd at London’s Roundhouse theater (a performance streamed live on MTV.com) and he spared no expense, filling the stage with a seven-piece string section (the Sinfonia ViVA), a blaring army of horns (Chicago’s Hypnotic Brass Ensemble), a massive backing band (that included former Clash-men Mick Jones and Paul Simonon) and more than a few special guests — all gathered together to perform tracks off the Gorillaz’ new Plastic Beach album.

It was a show that was equal parts fierce and fragile, nasty and pretty, boomingly loud one minute, achingly quiet the next — sort of like the album itself. Things kicked off with the hushed strings of the Sinfonia and a beamed-in appearance from Snoop Dogg, who appeared on a video screen dressed as a sea captain and strutted his way through the Beach intro “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach.”

Then the full Gorillaz ensemble launched headlong into the throbbing “Stylo,” featuring vocals from Bobby Womack and the mighty Mos Def (who rapped through what appeared to be a C.B. microphone). That was followed by the dreamy “Rhinestone Eyes,” which saw Albarn finally step to the front of the stage — he had spent the first portion of the show tinkering with a piano in the background — while electronics chimed and wooshed around him.

The show then segued into quieter fare — “Broken,” which got a soulful boost from the Hypnotic Brass and the Sinfonia, and “Empire Ants,” featuring Little Dragon frontwoman Yukimi Nagano on vocals. The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music was trotted out for an extended, intricate jam, a transcendental few minutes that crashed right into “White Flag,” featuring hyped-up cameos from Brit rappers Bashy and Kano (and Albarn waving an actual white flag).

A thumping, super-electro take on “Superfast Jellyfish” was up next, with frequent Gorillaz collaborators De La Soul serving as frontmen (and Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys singing the hook). Then Mos Def appeared once again — decked out in a stovepipe hat that, when coupled with his chin beard, made him look a whole lot like Abraham Lincoln, even if that wasn’t the intended effect — to serve as a sort of carnival barker on “Sweepstakes,” backed by the powerful Hypnotic Brass.

As the crowd cheered wildly, Albarn again stepped to the front of the stage to duet with Nagano on a bittersweet “To Binge” and, after a few tender moments, Womack emerged again to perform a moody “Cloud of Unknowing,” the penultimate track on Beach.

And then, it was over — a breakneck hour filled with highlights, all directed by Albarn. As the band exited the stage, he looked happy, but exhausted. And who can blame him? This, after all, was a show.

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New video shows Drake torn between a wholesome beauty and a seductive dancer.
By Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Rahman Dukes

src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/bands/d/drake/over_video/281x211.jpg"/>



Drake in his “Over” music video


Photo: Universal Motown/ Young Money

No more waiting; the video for Drake’s “Over” premiered on Vevo Monday morning (April 12).

The clip starts off with Drake, dressed in white, sitting in a room on a bed, reflecting on his life these days. Images of explosions and time-lapsed cityscapes are projected on him and the wall of the room. From there, he launches into a heavy performance.

“This is my first video,” Drake said on the set of “Over” in early March, though he’s made clips for “Successful,” “Best I Ever Had” and some of his guest stints. “I’ve shot a lot of videos before, but this is my first attempt to establish myself as Drake the artist. Shooting the other videos I’ve done has been great. I really don’t care what other people think about them, they were great experiences for me. I’ve learned a lot from them. Today, I’m shooting with somebody I really look up to and respect. I’m shooting with Anthony Mandler.

“We talked colors, we talked epic, emotion-evoking visuals,” he added. “The story is actually interesting. The song is so aggressive, and it’s sort of a love story in the video. It has a lot to do with the album [Thank Me Later]. The album is about finding love, feeling, ‘Have I sold my soul?’ as far as, ‘Will I ever be able to gain the trust of a woman? Will I only be able to be around the dark, evil women? Will I ever find that pure love?’ Those elements are in the video. I look strong, I feel great, my knee’s feeling great. I’m jumping around, doing all kinds of stuff.”

Toward the end of the video, it looks like Drake has to choose between two beautiful women. One, played by Roc Nation singer Rita Ora, appears to be a more wholesome girl, while the other lady looks more dangerous as she dances provocatively in the background.

“It takes the song to another place,” Drake said of the video last week on the opening night of his Away From Home Tour. “It offers up a whole different look for the song. The song — to a lot of people — is ignorant, it’s club. This video is what I was really thinking about. The song is like a bad dream — but it’s not a bad dream, it’s not a terrible dream. It’s a little evil. The video really reflects that. It’s a struggle between the purities of my past life and what this new life has to offer. Even in the video, you see me looking back and forth between the two and deciding. At the end of the video I don’t necessarily make a decision, but when you get the album, you’ll see what choice I make.”

What do you think of Drake’s video for “Over”? Does it “take the song to another place,” like Drake says? Let us know in the comments below!

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Ralph McDaniels and J.Period blend Biggie’s songs with new beats and visuals on the mixtape DVD, in Mixtape Daily.
By Shaheem Reid

src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/bands/n/notorious_big/notorious_big_030810/281x211.jpg"/>



Notorious B.I.G.


Photo: Getty Images

Don’t Sleep: Necessary Notables

Mixtape DVD: “March 9: Video Remix Collection”

Headliners: The Notorious B.I.G., Ralph McDaniels and J.Period

Key Cameos: No guest stars, but you have to check for the blends. “Flava in Ya Ear” over the track from Jay-Z’s “P.S.A.” “Hypnotize” over the track from Eric B and Rakim’s “Paid in Full.” “One More Chance” over the instrumental from Mary Jane Girls’ “All Night Long” and the Gap Band’s “Outstanding.”

Essential Info: Ralph McDaniels is hip-hop. He’s been documenting the culture since the beginning. In the early ’80s, McDaniels, then a college student, would tape footage of hip-hop godfathers like Grand Master Flash and Melle Mel, not because he had an outlet to put it on, but because he knew in his heart that the culture had to be recorded. Thirty years later, McDaniels can be considered an architect himself, with his New York-based video program “Video Music Box” becoming a staple in rap. It was the place where you could find all videos from new artists as well as the stars every day after school. Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, BBD, KRS-One and countless others not only sent their videos in, they gave McDaniels interviews at a time when we didn’t see much hip-hop on TV.

One of McDaniels’ favorite subjects was the Notorious B.I.G. Uncle Ralph described Biggie as being very serious in the booth but a jokester that could rival the Kings of Comedy when he wasn’t working. McDaniels also remembers Biggie as a “student of the game.”

“I have footage of him at a Big Daddy Kane concert, and he was just in the crowd,” McDaniels told Mixtape Daily. “He was a student of the game. He knew Kane was an MC from Brooklyn that came early. That told me a lot. He wasn’t anybody yet; he was just a cat trying to get on. To be around a guy like that, hilarious. I would want to be a Junior M.A.F.I.A. member just to be down with that cat there.”

McDaniels recently teamed with J.Period to salute Big Poppa with a collection of remix videos called “March 9: Video Remix Collection.”

“This thing was kinda the next evolution of the March 9th remix project I started on the 10th anniversary of Big passing with my man G. Brown,” Period explained. “I been speaking to Ralph for a minute — I love what he does; he likes what I do with the mixtapes — about finding a way to collabo. This seems like the best first step: Find somebody like Big, take the remixes and see what happens. When you set it to video, it takes it to life in a whole new way.”

“I always like looking for something new, something different,” McDaniels said. “I was familiar with J.Period’s original CD mixtape. I was like, ‘This is kinda dope.’ That’s when we started talking about it. So I’ll take the visuals. Sometimes, the visuals don’t match, because there might be edits and all kinds of things like that involved. I have to find something that fits for that particular scene. I have to use my imagination and think about the fans as well. What would they like to see? Because I’m a music-video person, I live for the visuals. … We try to input some of these things in to the video mixes. Biggie don’t have a lot of videos he did, maybe only like five or six videos he was in. So we had to get creative. Thankfully, the ones we put out, they were ones he had videos for. But there’s some songs like ‘Party and Bullsh–’ that there were no videos for. But there’s footage out there of him performing. That’s the creative stuff we had to work on fitting it together.”

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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Today was AMAZING!!!!! Everyone is so nice and absolutely fabulous.

Lady Gaga was number 1 again!!!! (Woop woop Happy Birthday, Gaga!!).

All my friends made it so special as did the wonderful producer Adele.

The special guests were fantastic, Daisy Dares You was beautiful, Chipmunk (he looked bigger than I thought in real life) and Esmee Denters – she is beautiful and such a babe.

I spoke to Jade from the Sugababes. She is such a beautiful person and we had a lovely chat about her dancing. I still can’t believe everyone was here in my house in Warwick.

Thank you to my supportive friends and family. Reggie was such a babe as well and I can’t wait to listen next week. Thank you so much to all the Radio 1 team for making all this possible. This will be a day I’ll never forget. Thank you again!!!!

xxxx
Callum

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

Before he became the legendary singer/bassist of Motörhead, Lemmy Kilmister logged time as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix in the late Sixties, prepping his guitars for his explosive performances — and picking up the bits of his destroyed stomp-boxes post-show. In honor of our latest issue chronicling Hendrix’s last days and lost recordings, we caught up with Kilmister at SXSW, where he was promoting the documentary Lemmy, for a look back at his time with the guitar legend. Plus, watch his interview — smokes and drinks included — above.

“I was sleeping on [Jimi Hendrix’s roadie] Neville Chester’s floor — he was sharing a flat with Noel Redding, so whenever they needed an extra pair of hands I was right there. I didn’t get the job for any talent or anything. But I did see Jimi play a lot. Twice a night for about three months. I’d seen him play backstage too. He had this old Epiphone guitar — it was a 12-string, strung as a six string — and he used to stand up on a chair backstage and play it. Why he stood up on the chair, I don’t know.

Experience Jimi Hendrix’ life in photos.
Photo: West/WireImage

“When he performed, he was magic. You would watch him and space and time would stop. After he played, we would have to repair his fuzzboxes because he’d just stomp all over them. And they’d go into bits all over the stage, and you’d have to go fine the bits and put them back together. Fucking murder. He was supposed to be a showman but I think he eventually got sick of it, and when people moaned at him, he’d go into this kind of imitation Jimi Hendrix routing, you know? It wasn’t convincing. That was a shame.

“But Jimi was a really nice guy. And very courteous. If a woman came into the room, he’d shoot to his feet and get a chair out for her. He was old fashioned like that. Good manners don’t cost nothing.”

Go backstage with Motörhead on the band’s 2008 European tour.

Reporting by Steve Appleford.

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View full post on Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

Members of R.E.M., Meat Puppets, She & Him join the rest of Big Star to remember the late Chilton.
By James Montgomery

src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/bands/b/big_star/chilton/281x211.jpg"/>



Alex Chilton


Photo: Frank Mullen/ Wireimage

AUSTIN, Texas — It was unseasonably cold deep in the heart of Texas on Saturday night, as winds howled and low-hanging clouds swallowed up the moon. It was the kind of weather that seems to lend itself to mourning.

But inside venerable Austin blues bar Antone’s, mourning wasn’t on the menu (there were, however, tacos). Instead, friends, colleagues and disciples of the late Alex Chilton, who died earlier this week of an apparent heart attack, had gathered to pay tribute to the man and his music. And while there were a few tears shed, this was a night very much dedicated to celebration.

Originally scheduled as a South by Southwest closing concert by Chilton’s influential power-pop band Big Star, the Antone’s gig instead became a memorial show. Original Star drummer Jody Stephens and newer members Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer (who joined the band when it reformed in 1993) served as a house band as a host of top-flight talent sat in to perform Chilton’s songs and celebrate his life. Canceling the show was never an option.

Before things got under way, Stephens addressed the crowd, telling them he was “stunned and shocked” by Chilton’s passing, and thanked the Austin musical community for its outpouring of support in the days following his death. He said his heart went out to Chilton’s wife, Laura, and a letter she had written for the evening was read. In the note, Laura Chilton remembered her husband as a “spontaneous, honest and generous man … who usually befriended the underdogs.”

The letter brought tears to those onstage and in the audience, but as soon as Stephens was joined by Stringfellow and Auer, the sadness stopped. The trio welcomed Meat Puppet Curt Kirkwood to the stage to play guitar and sing on a stomping pair of Big Star classics — “Don’t Lie to Me” and “In the Street.”

Up next was guitarist/producer Chris Stamey, who played with Chilton early in his career and went on to form jangle-pop outfit the dBs. The quartet launched into “I Am the Cosmos” (written by late Big Star member Chris Bell), highlighted by a weeping Stamey guitar solo, and “When My Baby’s Beside Me.”

She & Him’s M.Ward appeared next (Auer introduced him as “a guy who used to take karate lessons with Alex”) to do a somber, acoustic version of “Big Black Car.” Then original Star bassist Andy Hummel — who left the band shortly before the release of their 1974 album, Radio City — picked up a guitar, and as die-hard fans cheered wildly, the foursome took on “Way Out West.”

R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills sang lead on an effervescent “Jesus Christ.” John Doe from X did the same on “I’m in Love With a Girl,” and 27-year-old Norwegian singer Sondre Lerche turned in perhaps the night’s finest performance, a bell-clear and big-voiced turn on the classic “The Ballad of el Goodo,” which left the crowd shouting their approval.

Evan Dando performed a brief acoustic tribute. Surly singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet blasted through “Thank You Friends,” and then, finally, the tribute entered the homestretch. Auer thanked Chilton’s friends for performing, and the crowd for their support, then announced, “We’ve exhausted our supply of songs, except for this last one.”

And then, with Mills, Hummel, singer Susan Cowsill, and the Watson Twins joining them onstage, the band began playing the wistful, wonderful “September Gurls,” all joining forces on the chorus and letting the guitars ring loudly. The crowd called out for more, but that was it. Stephens, Auer and Stringfellow embraced, bowed and disappeared offstage. Seconds later, as the crowd clapped and a spotlight shone on a lone microphone stand, Stephens reappeared and addressed the crowd once more, thanking them for the wonderful memories and their unyielding support for the band as they struggle with the loss of their friend.

“You’ve wrapped your arms around us,” Stephens said, choking up a bit. “We appreciate it.”

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Photograph by Neal Casal courtesy of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals: A View of Other Windows available through Abrams Image

For four years, photographer Neal Casal played with Ryan Adams as part of his band the Cardinals, touring the country and cutting three records with the singer-songwriter before the band split in early 2009. In that time, Casal snapped thousands of candid pictures of Adams in the studio, backstage and on the road. Those images have been recently compiled in the gorgeous new book Ryan Adams & The Cardinals: A View of Other Windows (out now from Abrams Image).

See the photos: images from Ryan Adams & The Cardinals: A View of Other Windows.

The book reveals Adams to be fascinating, endlessly mutable subject: on one page, he might be smoking cigarettes in the studio with Willie Nelson or snuggling up to his wife Mandy Moore, but on another, Adams is shown backstage sporting glittery, Kiss-style platform boots or comparing Black Flag tattoos with Henry Rollins. “From one day to the next, Ryan has a completely different look and vibe and a whole different energy,” Casal tells Rolling Stone. “It’s amazing — and one of the reasons I love photographing him so much.”

Adams has kept a low profile in recent months — he cited “balance and hearing issues” as a reason for the Cardinals split — but it looks like he’s gearing up to release more music in the coming months through his own Pax Am label. On Friday, Adams unveiled his latest track “Orion,” which he describes as his “most legit metal record.” He’s not kidding: the raging track features Adams squealing, wheezing and howling like the devil’s spawn over a jangly riff that calls to mind Blue Oyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” Hear it on his RyanAda.Ms Website.

View full post on Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

Photo: Spellman/WireImage

Elton John has a famous fan in Lady Gaga, but not everyone appreciates the awesome power of “Tiny Dancer.” A Georgia man was arrested Wednesday for making terrorist threats against Sir Elton. Last month Neal Horsley, 65, posted a YouTube video of himself standing in front of the singer’s Atlanta apartment complex holding a large red sign that said “Elton John Must Die.” Horsley was upset about a Parade magazine interview in which John said he thought Jesus was a “compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.”

“We’re here today to remind Elton John that he has to die,” Horsley says in the video. “What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ.” He goes on to use homophobic slurs and quote scripture.

This isn’t the first time Horsley — who has a surprisingly thorough Wikipedia page — has raised eyebrows. A militant anti-abortionist, he started a Website in the late 1990s that listed the names and addresses of doctors who performed abortions. Two years ago, Horsley founded the Creator’s Rights Party in Georgia and claims to be a candidate for the 2010 governor’s race. According to the AP, he kicked off his campaign wearing a placard showing a picture of an aborted fetus. The state ethics committee, meanwhile, has no record of his campaign.

Horsley’s bail is set at $40,000. Elton John’s publicist confirmed that the singer has an apartment in Atlanta, but wouldn’t tell the AP anything more.

View full post on Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

After four years as serial killer Dexter Morgan’s other half on Showtime’s hit Dexter, Julie Benz‘s on-screen alter ego was murdered in one of the year’s most jaw-dropping season finales. But with a recurring role on ABC’s Desperate Housewives and her new romantic comedy Uncorked, Benz is proving life after death can be sweet, even funny.

“I got my start in comedy years ago and then…

Read More >

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