Sunday, October 31, 2004

Avril is a little annoyed at Ashlee



“You know what? There are a lot of people out there today, who have become stars or famous musicians -- I wouldn’t really define them as a star -- with a record only because they have connections and only because they have money and for the wrong reasons,” Lavigne, 20, told Billboard.com.

“And it sucks. Actually, I know for a fact there are some young female artists who don’t even sing on their own records and who don’t sing live. And that is pathetic.”


MSNBC.com

Friday, October 29, 2004

Fergie robs the cradle with JT



Seems that when Fergie (now from the Black Eyed Peas) was 23 and Justin Timberlake was 16 (and still in 'NSync), the two used to play a litte "hide the trousersnake." I'm really not sure how I feel about this.

From Melbourne Australia's Herald Sun.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Those wacky Brits are at it again

From The Guardian/Observer UK, here is a list of the ten worst cover tunes. I obviously have never been to the UK, 'cause I have no idea what most of these are.

The Observer - The ten worst cover songs.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Howard Stern is calling in to radio shows to confront the FCC

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Howard Stern criticizes FCC chairman

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

I don't think this guy likes Eminem's "Just Lose It"



Boston.com / A&E / Music / Eminem picks wrong candidate for release.

Monday, October 25, 2004

Say it ain't so, Miss Ashlee 'Milli Vanilli' Simpson!



In case you haven't seen this, you'll get a kick out of it. Ashlee Simpson was the musical artist on Saturday Night Live this week, and they normally perform two tunes. First up, she did her song, "Pieces of Me." When she came on for the second tune, she was expecting to play "Autobiography," her new tune. But instead, you could hear the "guide vocal" track from "Pieces of Me." Whoops!

The band, trying their best to make it work, joins in with "Pieces of Me." Ashlee dances around for a while, then walks off stage. The band keeps going for a bit, but then SNL takes it to commercial.

Lots of folks are making this out to be about her lip-synching, but this is done all the time (the guide vocal track), especially on TV or other "live" performances. What really irks me is that she's blaming this on the band. "My band played the wrong song." No, the SNL audio guy cued up the wrong track, then the band did the best they could to go with the flow. Don't blame this on the band.

Here's a comment I found from an audio engineer:

Just chiming in as an audio engineer; While it is entirely possible that she lipsynced the entire first song, I'm with the other poster who suggested that they only had the vocal intro to the song sync'd so it would be a perfect pick up, then it fades out and she continues to sing live. We also do sample tracks for vocalists who have trouble hitting a high note in a song where we'll have that sampled and we just trigger the sample playback when the high note comes along.

That's what I think happened, and some audio enginner at SNL is probably going to be looking for a new job in the morning, for cueing up the wrong song intro. I can't say I blame Ashley, I mean singing the same song twice would be kind of stupid, so what do you do? The band did good to keep going, but they didn't really have a lot of other options.


Here's an article on CNN.com.
And here is a site where you can see the video.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

MEB heads west, young man



This Friday the MEB takes a road trip (well, everyone except Jeff). The guys will be heading into downtown Rochester for a ‘one night only’ show at Brü.

Brü is located in the spot that the Empire Brewing Company used to be (Jeff is still heartbroken as he used to spend many, many a night at EBC in Cuse… the ORIGINAL!). But the owners of Brü sure got it right… great bartenders, great atmosphere, great food, great brew & this Friday… great live music!

If you are a MEB virgin… you must attend this show. It’s taken them 6.5 years to make it to Rochester, who knows when the next time may be (Jeff has to get off his ass & book some shows in Roch).

On Saturday night, the MEB trio makes a pit stop in Auburn, NY at Spirits. Mike, Paul & Steve will be rockin’ out Saturday night with a little different flair. If you haven’t seen the band in this format, you need to stop by. We promise that there won’t be any politicians throwing down at Spirits, not this weekend!

So to recap…
  1. The Mike Estep Band performs this weekend in Rochester & Auburn
  2. Jeff only has a 20 minute ride instead of the usual 1.5 hours+
  3. There’s only one place to be on Friday night... Brü
  4. You need to follow up Friday with an evening with the MEB trio at Spirits in Auburn on Saturday night.

We’ll see you there.

"A friend" left it in my backpack ...

Carmelo Anthony charged with marijuana possession.

ESPN.com - NBA - Carmelo charged with marijuana possession.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

What if you could turn off any TV anonymously?

A guy has invented the TV-B-Gone that will, with a click of one button, send out a "power off" signal for hundreds of TV models. Not sure why you would need this and how many people you would piss off (imagine using it in a sports bar in the bottom of the 9th), but it's interesting.

Wired News: Inventor Rejoices as TVs Go Dark.

Elliott Smith's posthumous CD gets reviewed



From troubled singer/songwriter Elliott Smith, who passed away a year ago, this is the CD of material that he was workng on at the time of his death, entitled "from a basement on the hill."

This article has other CD reviews, too - a tribute to Warren Zevon, new music from the Neville Brothers, and a Chinese-American rapper named Jin.

MSNBC.com

Friday, October 15, 2004

I'm a big Minnie Driver fan, but now she's singing?



On Tuesday she releases a CD called Everything I've Got In My Pocket, where she shows her chops as a singer/songwriter. Can't completely write her off, but I gotta hear it to believe it.

USATODAY.com - Minnie Driver, singer/songwriter.

Can you make money playing polkas?

Who knows. This guys has been scamming fans of his polka band {mostly old folks - surprise!} be selling them worthless investmenst and pocketing the money. He needs to be beat with a rubber leiderhosen.

Yahoo! News - Polka Bandleader Faces Music for Swindling.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Asexuality: it's not just for amoebas anymore

I don't think any jokes I could make here could be any better than the actual article itself.

CNN.com - Study: One in 100 adults asexual.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Lots of new music coming out this fall



Leaves are turning, a cold snap is around the corner, hot soup is again a lunch staple, and football is on every other channel. It’s fall, people, and the usual rites of this season still apply:

Crank up the car radio. Re-stock the iPod. Shop for a new stereo, with speakers big enough to rattle the sheetrock.

Just like movie studios wait until Christmas to unveil their prestige fare, record labels use this time of year to trot out highbrow product, both in stores and on the road. It’s the zenith of a popular music connoisseur’s year, a snooty counterweight to the frivolity of summer.

Get down and listen up.


MSNBC - Plenty of hot releases set for this fall

Peter Frampton comes alive - again!



He's back, he's got a haircut, and he's gotten involved in politics. I'm not really sure that qualifies for "coming alive," but it's a nice play on words, anyway.

CNN.com - The new Peter Frampton

Friday, October 08, 2004

Bummer - Melissa Etheridge has breast cancer

One of the best rock'n'roll songwriters of our time is getting treatment for breast cancer and has cancelled her tour. Our thoughts are with you, Melissa. Get better soon.

I've got 4 or 5 of her CDs and there are some great rock tunes on all of them. Heartfelt stuff with an emotional edge and a lot of guts behind it.

USAToday.com

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Remember Band Aid? It was 20 years ago



And we all want to know - Where are they now?

Funny you should ask. The Sun (UK's biggest selling newspaper) is there with the story.

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

We just don't need sweet beer, do we?



Anheuser-Busch says it will introduce a caffeinated, sweet-flavored beer for twentysomething club goers to compete with the flavored rums and vodkas gaining ground on the dance floor.

The new beer BE -- read as "B to the E power" -- will roll out in several phases starting in November.

Article on CNN.com.
Announcement from Anheuser-Busch.

Monday, October 04, 2004

He was great back in the day, but ...



Bob Dylan has gone from icon and legend to just another wacked out aging rockstar. And it's sad. But I guess it happens.

MSNBC.com takes a look at what Dr. Dylan has become.

Does he play the Grateful Dead?

A FEW MINUTES WITH ... A musical mortician