2009 Mashup from DJ Earworm

This year in the charts, so many of the pop songs this year seem to tell the same story: Yeah, we’ve been through a lot, but right now we’re gonna celebrate with music and dance, and it’s gonna be ok. With that spirit in mind, I invite you to…BLAME IT ON THE POP

• The Black Eyed Peas - BOOM BOOM POW
• Lady Gaga - POKER FACE
• Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis - JUST DANCE
• The Black Eyed Peas - I GOTTA FEELING
• Taylor Swift - LOVE STORY
• Flo Rida - RIGHT ROUND
• Jason Mraz - I’M YOURS
• Beyonce - SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)
• Kanye West - HEARTLESS
• The All-American Rejects - GIVES YOU HELL
• Taylor Swift - YOU BELONG WITH ME
• T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake - DEAD AND GONE
• The Fray - YOU FOUND ME
• Kings Of Leon - USE SOMEBODY
• Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo - KNOCK YOU DOWN
• Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain - BLAME IT
• Pitbull - I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE OCHO)
• T.I. Featuring Rihanna - LIVE YOUR LIFE
• Soulja Boy Tell ‘em Featuring Sammie - KISS ME THRU THE PHONE
• Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne - DOWN
• Miley Cyrus - THE CLIMB
• Drake - BEST I EVER HAD
• Kelly Clarkson - MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU
• Beyonce - HALO
• Katy Perry - HOT N COLD

Steven Page ventures out on his own

Steven Page, former lead singer of Barenaked Ladies, is working on a solo album, and he has an interesting blog post about the process.

Rockin' In Rochester

Looks like a fun weekend down the Thruway. Road trip?!?

2nd Annual Rochester Independent Music Festival

Roger Wilco!

We're big Wilco fans. Check out this article from MSNBC.com about their new CD.

Another Reason I Love The Internet

Just like this writer, I love how exploring the web for music about a particular artist or style can take you in so many directions. This guy started out looking for some Lou Reed music and ended up immersed and obsessed with Afro-pop.

Go music exploring, I think you'll love it.

Hipsters Love 'Em, But Why??

People who claim to be hip and cool love some very strange music, and Spike lists 7 bands that the hipsters love but they are not impressed with.

Keeping up with the latest music

I know they don't really play much music on MTV or VH1 anymore, instead we get Brett Michaels or Flavor Flav, but they still do a Top 20 video countdown every weekend. It's a good way to check out the latest videos and some cool new music.

I'm especially loving the Jason Mraz/Colbie Caillat tune - they're two of my favorite artists.

New Music for 2009

The Buffalo News lists its picks for some music you'll be hearing about in 2009. It's gonna be an interesting year!

Stereogum's best of 2008 - Fleet Foxes

It's always interesting to see what indie music blog Stereogum feels is the top albums of the year. Take a listen to Fleet Foxes - it's some good stuff.

They're (he's) back!

With Chinese Democracy from Guns'N'Roses scheduled to be released (finally) on November 23, they've started streaming the single. Check it out here.

Patience is a virtue

For Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, it's still incredible that 38 years after the release of his "Cold Fact" album, he is finally getting some recognition and respect. It's an amazing story.

DetroitNews.com

New music from Brian Eno & David Byrne

New CD from Alanis

I'm looking forward to new music from our Canadian friend Alanis Morissette.

MSNBC.com

This is how you handle technical difficulties

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

New R.E.M. CD out tomorrow

Accelerate hits the stores tomorrow, and this reviewer really likes it.

Order from Amazon.com here.

Great new band: Paramore

Nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist, these guys rock.

2007 in Review - Top Videos

As you can see, I'm in a video mood lately, so here's one critic's Top 25 Music Videos of 2007. Lots of entertainment here.

Stereogum's Gummy Awards

Music blog Sterogum has posted their annual Gummy Awards, and their readers have chosen Radiohead's "In Rainbows" as Album of the Year. Check out the full list and all the other award winners (and losers).

The Wreckers Live CD/DVD

From The Wreckers' new CD/DVD "Way Back Home: Live From New York", in stores December 4th.

Remember this name - Tal Wilkenfeld

At Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival, the crowd was wowed by Jeff Beck's performance with Vinnie Collaiuta on drums and new sensation 21-year old Tal Wilkenfeld on bass. This page has a link to a number of videos from the performance, and I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

Her website
MySpace page

Time for some new CD reviews

Radiohead, R.E.M., Jimmy Eat World, and more from MSNBC.com.

Listen to Bruce's "Magic"

They're streaming Bruce's new CD "Magic" at www.mydrivefm.com, so take a listen. By the way, 100.5 The Drive out of Rochester is a great station, and you can listen live on their website, too.

Oh, and this reviewer says the CD is a "rockin' good time."

New CD's from Foo Fighters, Will.i.am and more

Sounds like some cool stuff coming out this week.

The Music Man

I think you'll enjoy this great New York Times Magazine article on the unique music maestro Rick Rubin. I love this guy.

Bonnaroo, baby!!

One of the summer's craziest festivals, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, held every June in Manchester, TN, kicks off tonight. Great lineup, 700 acre site/farm, a real Woodstock revisited.

Rock on, baby.

Bonnaroo.com
Fun articles from the Nashville paper, The Tennessean.

Last Train Home makes it on CMT

Our friends from DC and Nashville (we opened for them @ IOTA in Arlington, VA a couple of years back), Last Train Home, has a new video out for their song "One Last Kiss," and they tell us that it's been played on CMT! Watch it above.

Here's their CMT.com page.
Their official website.

Recognition for creative and adventurous music

The finalists for the 2007 Shortlist Music Prize have been announced, and they include the Band of Horses, Beirut, Bonnie Prince Billy, Cat Power, Girl Talk, Hot Chip, Joanna Newsom (above), Regina Spektor (above), Spank Rock and Tom Waits. The Shortlist Music Prize recognizes noteworthy 2006 albums that have not yet sold 500,000 units in the United States.

Article @ Billboard.com
Shortlist website

Soulful Joss is a redhead now

The lovely British lass Joss Stone has a new album out and it's getting mixed reviews in the music press, primarily in Britain. She says this CD shows more about who she is, and some people are claiming that her bluesy soul style is very derivative of other people's work.

I'm a fan and I like her stuff, whether it's similar to other artists or not. For me, it's not about that, it's about whether the music is good or not. And I think it is.

What do you think?

MSNBC.com

New Richard Thompson tune

One of the most underappreciated songwriters of our time, Richard Thompson, has released a new tune skewering the Iraq war entitled "Daddy's Gonna Kill Me." Read more and listen on Salon.com's Audiofile.

SXSW finishes up

The South By Southwest Music event in Austin (SXSW Music), one of the largest gatherings of music folks around the country has just wrapped up this weekend. Someday I'm going to go and enjoy this amazing festival, but in the meantime, you can read about what happened this year.

Pitchfork reviews
San Francisco Chronicle reports on the partying
Boston.com recaps the event
Rolling Stone's daily SXSW reports

100-Proof Voice

Green-eyed soul singer Amy Winehouse seems to be walking a fine line between genius and self-destruction, and no one knows where it will all end.

From washingtonpost.com (registration may be required)

By the way, this is the 700th post on this blog. Do I get a cookie or something for that?

Norah is back

Norah Jones is back with her newest CD "Not Too Late." The folks at Stereogum give it a lukewarm review. They say it's more of the same, very safe but not as adventurous as they hoped she'd be. What do you think?

Stereogum review.
Listen/buy at Amazon.com.

KT Keeps Rocking

KT Tunstall partially credits her success to Nas' father and Katharine McPhee. What?!

MSNBC.com

A chat with Corinne

Here's a nice long interview with Corinne Bailey Rae, the silky-voiced songstress. Lots of interesting info.

From Yahoo!Music.

Now that's subway entertainment

A capella group Naturally 7 live in Paris subway. Really cool. The crowd eventually gets into it.

Their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/naturallysevencom

Have an Emo Christmas

This is a cool collection of Christmas songs from some emo bands, and there are links to tons of other holiday music. I love this blog.

I especially like the version of "Do You Hear What I Hear" from Copeland.

Eggnog Makes Me Emo