Hey, Dan Gibson here again. Alas, my terrible July reign of guestblogging comes to an end as noted MS Paint specialist Jess Harvell will take over full-time a week from today. More »
It’s not a secret (or at least, not a well-kept one) that Amerie’s stateside release date issues are a sensitive subject around the Idolator offices, but in order to show the fine people at Sony Urban/Columbia Records that there are still some people on this side of the pond who are eagerly awaiting the release of Because I Love It, we offer an Amerie news rundown after the cut:
Lesson one for producers heading to Nashville to create quick content on the cheap: The musicians there have a union, and they’re going to want to be paid for their efforts. Everyone realizes you assume that people who live outside of the broadcast reach of KCRW are uncultured morons, but people around the world are familiar with the idea of getting paid for the work they do.
Also, Billy Joel is going to keep next week’s gig “hit heavy.” People who shell out way too much money for shows: They’re just like the kids in my high school drama club! More »
Do you enjoy instant messaging? Dream of interacting with the bands of the Family Values Tour? Really? Was it the second question that ruined it? Are you sure you don’t want to enter a contest to win tickets to the CIRCLE PIT? I know, the capitalization is unnecessary. More »
So, let’s just pretend for a moment that you’re British band Hard-Fi. I realize this might be difficult, as you’re trying to remember if you’ve ever heard of Hard-Fi. Just imagine a less interesting version of the Arctic Monkeys (yeah, yeah, I know) and stick with me for a moment. You’re readying a second album that no one in particular wants to hear. How can you get some media attention for a moment? What will it take to make the prestigious pages of the NME? Oh, here’s one idea: make a big fuss about not having cover art!
Ed. note: Once again, Idolator intern Kate Richardson scours the video sites, looking for the best fan-made music videos. In this entry, she celebrates Shark Week:
Deerhunter lead singer Bradford Cox on his eventful Friday night: “The guy put his gun up to my temple and said ‘give me EVERYTHING motherfucker I aint fucking with you’ I just mumbled something and he put his hands in my pants and took everything I had. More »
The other night I was at the New York Mets’ annual “merengue night,” which features a postgame concert, players being announced in Spanish and interstitial packages on topics like Dominican restaurants in Queens. After the playing of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch, “Macarena” came over the speakers. I laughed; my friend thought it was funny. I swung around to see if anyone was doing the dance (because I couldn’t remember its hand gestures for the life of me) and behind me was a row of eight-year-olds, all doing the dance perfectly, and being pretty serious about it to boot. Eight-year-olds! They weren’t even alive during the song’s fourteen-week reign of terror at No. 1!
ARTIST: M.I.A.