The fierce Norwegian rocker Ida Maria had a meltdown on stage at the woefully undersold Boston installment of Technicolor-haired Internet scourge Perez Hilton’s tour the other night. Somehow the bottom-feeding blogger himself hasn’t mentioned this yet! But other people who were there have accounts of the evening and video. More »
Gossip scourge Perez Hilton’s foray into the music business is continuing full-speed ahead; over the weekend the Technicolor-haired argument against the Internet announced that he’d be putting on a branded tour called Perez Hilton Presents, which is taking place this fall and which will apparently include “the hottest acts on the planet—from all over the world!” (To be fair, some of Perez’s readers might not be all that sure what the word “planet” means.) Today Perez announced that one of the acts on the tour would be none other than the Idolator-beloved Norewgian singer Ida Maria. Which is kind of a bummer, for a lot of reasons! More »
Kelly Clarkson had her turn in the New York Times‘ “Playlist” chair yesterday, and the results were, well, mixed. Weezer’s red album got a shoutout, as did the Irish band The Script, who Clarkson described as–eek!–“OneRepublic meets rap.” Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. Aw, Kelly. Listen. In honor of you being my favorite American Idol (and having one of my favorite albums of the year) (well, except for all those songs by the OneRepublic guy, which are just plodding and terrible and tuneless and ugh), I decided to craft a mix CD for you. Because girl, there is there is so much music out there that you would love–and that would probably love you back! More »
After months and months of trans-Atlantic buildup, Ida Maria’s Fortress ‘Round My Heart landed on these shores, and those of you who want to support Ida’s efforts to break the States but are on a budget can currently pick up a digital copy for $5. Fortress is certainly worth the price of a single (good) beer, its 10 songs mixing swagger and vulnerability in a twitchy, irresistible way. After the jump, those of you who have somehow missed my outsized evangelism for the Norwegian singer can check out the videos for “Oh My God” and “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked,” the latter of which is currently inching up the Hot Modern Tracks chart. More »
In today’s headline wrapup: DMX isn’t in Celebrity Rehab (yet), Alan McGee is still pissy about ever even liking My Bloody Valentine, Aerosmith play for free in Hawaii, and we are all lazy because of the Internet. More »
Welcome to the inaugural version of The Idolator Dozen, our new weekly countdown of notable-slash-positive happenings in the music world as decided by me. To answer your questions: “Why?”; “Ranking things is fun, duh.” “Why 12?”; “Because I like the number, and always have.” “What’s on the list?”; “Whatever I say, plus maybe a few things that I neglected to get to during the week.” “Why now?”; “Why not now?” “When will then be now?”; “Soon.” The top 12 after the jump!
The first batch of bands for this year’s installment of the South By Southwest Music Festival has been announced, which means that we can finally put festival programmer Darin Klein’s claims about just how bands are selected for Austin’s annual Shiner-and-short sets fest to the test. (Aww, the lede of Lucas’ piece mentions free Sparks. How sad.) Among the highlights on the list, which is after the jump: Ida Maria, Ebony Bones, St. Vincent. And Primal Scream, hey!
As 2008 recedes in our collective rearview mirror, the headlines trumpeting bad news are still there: record sales are lousier than ever, the economy sucks, record executives are still trying to flog the Pussycat Dolls. But there are still reasons to be excited by what’s to come in the probably contracting, definitely shapeshifting world of pop music. Nine things to look forward to today and in the 364 days that follow after the jump!
What were the 80 most important musical recordings, artists, trends, events, and performances of 2008? What were the eight things this year that broke our hearts—or, at least, our ears? We’re happy to announce 80 ’08 (and Heartbreak), Idolator’s year-end overview. The list is below the jump.
Our look at the closing lines of the week’s biggest new-music reviews continues with a roundup of reactions to