Weezer “Secret Show” Announcement, Raditude Preview | Music Vixen Blog
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Worst album cover ever?
Although Weezer’s new album doesn’t hit stores until November 3, fans are already clamoring over the song previews posted online–although we’re sort of surprised that the horrendous album art and cringe-worthy title haven’t scared people away.
If you’re so impatient that you absolutely need to hear Continue reading »
Pearl Jam is on track to score their first number one album on the charts in thirteen years, according to a report on Billboard.com.
According to Billboard, music industry prognosticators are predicting that the album, Backspacer, which was released Sunday, could shift anywhere between 175,000 to 200,000 copies by week’s end. That sales figure should easily move it ahead of the competition when the Billboard 200 chart for the period ending September 27 is published next Wednesday.
The new album — Pearl Jam’s first not with a major label — is sold exclusively in the United States through Target, iTunes, Pearl Jam’s Web site and independent retailers.
The Seattle-based grunge band has had a spate of number two albums on the charts, including their last release, 2006’s self-titled set. Their last number one album was No Code, released in 1996.
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Backspacer
Pearl Jam
2009
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Recommended if you like:
Guitar Hero, 90s kitsch, Target
The fact that Pearl Jam’s new album is being retailed almost exclusively by Target stores opens the band to endless ridicule and accusations of being sell-outs.
However, potential critics don’t need to use the weak “sell-out” argument because the album speaks for itself: it sounds like a band trying too hard to prove that it is still a rock band, with lackluster results. (On the plus side, it’s also the band’s shortest album, clocking in at just 37 minutes.)
It’s not easy being the last of a species, and grunge dinosaurs Pearl Jam know this better than anyone. The Seattle rockers have Continue reading »
Today’s music trivia challenge comes courtesy of a band whose two guitarist share a September 10 birthday.
This California rock/alt-country group’s 1996 hit was sort of a bitter, update of the Who’s 1965 anthem, “My Generation”. The band also scored hits with songs about headless movie starlets and junkie cosmonauts (although our favorite is the one about Jack Kerouac’s brother).
Can you name the band?
BONUS: Can you name the band’s two guitarists celebrating birthdays today?
HINT: This band’s lead singer/guitarist was previously the star of a popular ’80s indie-rock band. That band was recently reformed, and this busy musician now records and tours with both successful groups.
BIG Hint: The band’s 1992 debut album features the song “Happy Birthday to Me.”
Answer and Video Below: Continue reading »
REVIEW: New Daughtry CD ‘Leave This Town’ –Is Chris Still Idol’s Top Rocker? | Music Vixen BlogABOVE: The best Canada has to offer? Nickelback’s award-winning hit, “Gotta Be Somebody.”
Rock band Nickelback made a clean sweep at Canada’s MuchMusic Video Awards yesterday, as their hit “Gotta Be Somebody” won for best video, best rock video and best postproduction, according to Reuters report.
Nickelback and R&B artist Danny Fernandes lead the pack of contenders with five nominations each, according to Reuters, and Fernandes made off with the pop video award for “Private Dancer.”
America was well-represented at the ceremony, which was hosted by the Jonas Brothers, and gave New York’s Lady Gaga the best international video artist trophy for “Poker Face.” In addition, the Black Eyed Peas earned the best international video group award for their hit “Boom Boom Pow.”
The MMVAs are presented annually by the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic to honor the year’s best music videos. The ceremony is held near the channel’s headquarters in Ontario.
ABOVE: A video tour of the Pixies’ massive new $450 boxset, Minotaur. Is it worth it?
Would you drop $450 on a set of five albums you probably already own?
The Pixies certainly hope so.
Known for dynamic musical shifts and songs such as “Where is My Mind?,” “Cactus” and “Caribou,” the influential indie/alt-rock band is set to release a massive boxset that includes, among other things, all five of the Pixies’ original studio recordings. Reportedly weighing in at two feet tall and 25lbs, Minotaur may be the first deluxe boxset to live up to its name.
Available for presale orders beginning June 15, here’s what you get in each set, according to the band’s 4AD Records website:
The Minotaur Deluxe Edition ($175) will include all five Pixies studio albums - Come On Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990), and Trompe le Monde (1991) - on 24k layered CD and Blu-ray (five discs total), with reinterpreted artwork by Vaughan Oliver, the graphic designer who created all of the artwork that accompanied the Pixies’ studio albums.
Also included in the Deluxe Edition will be a DVD of a Pixies 1991 performance at the Brixton Academy in London, the group’s videos, possible live tracks, and a 54-page book, all housed in a custom slipcase.
The Minotaur Limited Edition ($450) will include everything in the Deluxe Edition, as well as all five albums on 180 gram vinyl, a Giclee print of Oliver’s artwork, and a 72-page hardcover book, all housed in an over-sized custom clamshell cover.
With CD sales in decline and illegal file-sharing threatening the future of record labels around the world, it is little surprise that bands are looking for new and exciting ways to convince fans to buy their albums.
What is surprising is Continue reading »
Virgin Music » Rose’s Re-Reviews – 22-06-09
We hate to admit it, but we generally like the idea of Sonic Youth more than we actually like the band’s music. (Thurston Moore’s snore of a gig opening for the beyond-legendary Roky Erickson last Spring didn’t help win us over, but we can’t blame the whole band for that.)
But, we’re trying to be open-minded.
NYC’s Sonic Youth has been making albums since 1981, and while the band has had its ups and downs, going from indie (SST) to major (Geffen) back to indie (Matador), the band still isn’t slowing down.
Sonic Youth’s 16th album, The Eternal, hits stores in June, and the band is offering up a sneak preview in the form of a free mp3. It marks their first release since leaving Geffen records.
Sonic Youth–”Sacred Trickster” mp3
If you only know the band’s hits like “Kool Thing” (Chuck D-approved video above) or “100%” (the un-YouTube-able video features My Name is Earl’s Jason Lee back when he was a young skater), this is a good time to check in and see what they’re up to. And, if you’re already a fan of the group’s vast catalog of noisy, experimental rock sounds, it’s still cool to get a free preview.
The opening track of The Eternal, our first impression of “Sacred Trickster” is Continue reading »
Courtney Love intends to file a lawsuit within the next month in an effort to recoup the millions of dollars “looted” from her late husband’ Kurt Cobain’s estate, E! reports.
According to E! the suit targets “former assistants, former managers, CPAs, lawyers and a couple of banks” who Love says bilked roughly $30 million in cash and another $500 million in false real estate ventures from Cobain’s fortune.
“Courtney’s main interest is ensuring that her daughter gets the assets back that were stolen,” San Diego attorney Rhonda Holmes told E!. Cobain’s mother and siblings are also listed as plaintiffs in the suit.
Cobain, Nirvana’s lead singer-guitarist, was discovered dead in his Washington home this week 15 years ago.
Kurt Cobain Sings Bon Jovi? Courtney Love Sucks. | Music Vixen BlogWell music fans, today is April 8, do you know what that means? (Other than that I’m still waiting for my birthday pony to arrive. Ahem.)
It means that Kurt Cobain has been dead for 15 years.
The suicidal Nirvana leader’s body was found at his Seattle mansion Wednesday, April 8, 1994.
However, lately, we’re not sure whether Cobain is remembered more as a musician or a dead junkie. In the years since his death, Cobain has endured all manner of abuse, including:
1. The unstoppable trainwreck that is Courtney Love and her blog.
2. Horrible Kurt Cobain dolls/action figures.
3. A ghoulish and tasteless book, Journals, that features Xeroxed pages of his private journal. (Seriously, when you die do you want people passing around photocopies of your diary?)
4. Being thoroughly upstaged by the surprisingly mainstream Dave Grohl.
5. Countless lawsuits fighting over his money.
6. Various episodes of Law & Order loosely based on his death. Continue reading »
KarenAttention Smashing Pumpkins fans: Billy Corgan has just posted a help wanted sign in his window.
Smashing Pumpkins parted ways with longtime, and often troubled, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin less than two weeks ago, but Corgan is already taking applications for his replacement.
Corgan announced plans to hold an open audition for drummers on April 10th. Applicants need to send a photo, bio, and music-related resume items (links to music, etc) to Corgan at Continue reading »
