Diddy did it. His "Making the Band 3" girl group debuts at No. 1 on sales of 234,000 copies of its eponymous debut, beating out OutKast's "Idlewild" soundtrack, which sold 196,000 copies,
Full Billboard report
Newsday's Top Albums and Singles (compiled by Billboard) on the jump
Taking Back Sunday turned what could have been a run-of-the-mill benefit performance Wednesday night at Webster Hall into a special event, playing its “Louder Now” (Warner Bros.) album in its entirety from start to finish.
“Welcome to ‘Louder Now,’ ladies and gentlemen,” singer Adam Lazzara said, after the Rockville Centre-based band ripped through the album’s first six songs. “This is something very special for us.”
It’s a move that traditionally doesn’t work for most bands – especially in these days where filler tracks are a way of life. However, “Louder Now,” one of 2006’s best albums, is solid from top to bottom, and the crowd reaction proved it, singing along the entire time. By the time Taking Back Sunday hit the final songs “Error: Operator,” with raucous guitarwork from Fred Mascherino and Ed Reyes, and “I’ll Let You Live,” the crowd was in a frenzy, realizing that they were part of something special.
Lazzara added yet another surprise in “Divine Intervention,” opening the song with part of “Turnpike Gates” from the band Lifetime, the New Jersey emo-core pioneers he idolizes so much that he has their lyrics tattooed on his arm. (More..)
SETLIST: What's It Feel Like To Be A Ghost? / Liar (It Takes One To Know One) / MakeDamnSure / Up Against (Blackout) / My Blue Heaven / Twenty-Twenty Surgery / Spin / Divine Intervention / Miami / Error: Operator / I’ll Let You Live / ENCORES: Cute Without the ‘E’ / One-Eighty by Summer / A Decade Under the Influence
Photo by Derrick Santini / Warner Bros. Records
Vote for MTV2 award here
Continue reading "Taking Back Sunday @ LIFEbeat Benefit, Webster Hall, 8.30" »
After a nine-week run on "Rock Star: Supernova," Ryan Star delivered his farewell speech on last night's show.
In a rare personal statement on his website, Bruce Springsteen said his commitment to wife Patti Scialfa "remains as strong as the day we were married." He said rumors of a breakup are "unfounded and ugly."
"Patti and I have been together for 18 years- the best 18 years of my life," he said in the statement. "We have built a beautiful family we love and want to protect and our commitment to one another remains as strong as the day we were married."
Foxy Brown pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a fight with salon workers over a manicure. Then, she tried to take the plea back, but the judge ruled that the plea deal would stand. Foxy now faces three years probation and must take anger management classes.
Full story
Like most geniuses, Bob Dylan has a brain that moves too fast.
By naming his new album "Modern Times" (Columbia), is Dylan joking about how unmodern his collection of blues, rock and folk sounds? Is he referring to the Charlie Chaplin film "Modern Times" and its comment on living in upheaval as technology creates unemployment and "Big Brother" is always watching? Is he trying to place today's world in the context of the historical definition of "modern times," which started in the late 18th century? Probably, all of the above. And more.
Unlike 2001's "Love and Theft" (Columbia), which showed that great artists can still be potent and poignant after 42 albums, "Modern Times" is less concerned about individuals' stories and more about humanity.
Full review
Listen to "Modern Times" here
Snow Patrol's new single, "Chasing Cars" (A&M), walks in the same sensitive, fragile (and ultimately successful) footsteps as James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" but turns the guitar up in the middle enough to suggest the Brits' rock roots, like the wise-cracking dude who encourages the lead guy in the romantic comedy to "man up." Between "Chasing Cars" and "Chocolate," the British hit that has been revived as the theme for the new Zach Braff movie "The Last Kiss," Snow Patrol should be the fall's breaking back-to-campus band.
Listen to "Chasing Cars" here
After a two-year stint in Miami and a decline in interest in the "music" portion of its "Music Television" slogan that goes back even longer, MTV will not only return its Video Music Awards home to New York, it will also celebrate the return of the music video to a place of prominence in pop culture.
Red Hot Chili Peppers (right) and Shakira are this year's top nominees.
After a powerhouse performance and a few tussles with his fellow rockers, Ryan Star received a new nickname from Dave Navarro.
Christina Aguilera's double album 'Back to Basics' (RCA) debuts at No. 1 with 346,000 sales, leading
a slate of debuts taking over the Top 5. Country singer Trace Adkins debuts at No. 3 with "Dangerous Man," though he didn't make much of an impact in the New York area. His album didn't even crack Newsday's Top 25.
Newsday's Top Albums and Singles (compiled by Billboard) on the jump
After wrapping up its semi-secret headlining tour of the U.S., Brand New is hitting the road with Dashboard Confessional in October.
This may not mean much to New Yorkers: Brand New's leg of the tour starts in Arizona and doesn't come any farther east than Illinois. But it clearly suggets the band is gearing up to release its new album, which is mostly finished, according to the Website. It's also a good sign that a major band like Dashboard is willing to take the group on tour. (Or is it just a sign that the two acts share the same publicity firm?)
Pre-sale tickets to the shows can be purchased here.
Mariah Carey wore her summer best -- er, least -- at Wednesday's concert.
Read the full review here.
Photo by Newsday's Ari Mintz
So here's what you need to know to crash some of MTV's "secret" shows tied to the Video Music Awards next week:
8.29, 5 p.m., Battery Park: Concert with All-American Rejects, Rihanna, New Found Glory, Chamillionaire, and Cartel. Show is all-ages and free, but you need tickets to get in. Pick them up at noon tomorrow (Thursday) at Tower Records (1961 Broadway), Tower Records (692 Broadway), and the MTV Store (Corner of 44th/Broadway).
8.30, 7 p.m., Webster Hall: Concert with Taking Back Sunday and 30 Seconds to Mars. It's a benefit for LIFEbeat, 16 and over show. Tickets are $40 and go on sale TODAY at noon through Ticketweb or 866.468.7619.
OK, in what has to be the craziest story since "Being Bobby Brown" went off the air, a new book by Osama bin Laden's ex-lover Kola Boof says that the world's most wanted terrorist was obsessed with "The Greatest Love of All" herself, Ms. Whitney Houston. His obsession ran so deep that he wanted to kill her husband Bobby Brown and give her a house in suburban Khartoum.
Dude, she was in the woods of suburban Atlanta for only a few hours before declaring, "The forest is over." You really think you'll get her out to the Sudan? Hell to the no!
There's more zaniness in Boof's book, "Diary of a Lost Girl: The Autobiography of Kola Boof," which is excerpted by Harper's this month. Apparently, Osama was a fan of Van Halen and the B-52s (the band, not the plane), as well as an avid watcher of "MacGyver."
Full excerpt here.
OutKast’s “Idlewild” (LaFace/Arista) project faces practically insurmountable odds to success.
Andre 3000 and Big Boi may not have planned to put so much pressure on the songs for this album, but that’s what they’ve done. “Idlewild” is meant to be the soundtrack for their movie musical about life in Prohibition-era Georgia, as well as the basis for a Broadway show, and the follow-up to the hip-hop Grammy-winning “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” double album and the genre-busting hit “Hey Ya.”
It’s a testament to the duo’s impressive talent that “Idlewild” even comes close to pulling any of this off.
Listen to "Idlewild" here
Full review on the jump
Taking Back Sunday is taking its nomination for the MTV2 award at next week's Video Music Awards seriously. Today, it released a video message, asking its fans to vote for them at the MTV site. "I'm just voting for who I think should win," says bassist Matt Rubano, as he clicks the box for the band's "MakeDamnSure" clip.
Watch the Window Media version here
Watch the Quicktime version here
The songs on "Paris" (Warner Bros.) are so light that Paris Hilton's thin, but likable, voice can easily carry them.
A collection of the best producers (notably the ultra-hot Scott Storch) and songwriters money can buy, "Paris" will confound Hilton-haters for months to come with sure-fire hits such as the upbeat, Kelly Clarkson-esque pop-rock of "Screwed" and "Nothing in This World" and the Storch-produced, club-bangers "Turn It Up," "Turn You On" and "Fightin' Over Me," which features Fat Joe and Jadakiss and could somehow find its way onto the hip-hop stations.
Listen to "Paris" here
Lambchop leader Kurt Wagner has never been the sunniest of singers, though the darkness of his songs always seemed to be cut by a glimmer of clever humor or the glint of an eye that suggested he wasn't taking it all so seriously. "Damaged" (Merge), however, is nearly all seriousness - a slow march into the heart of hopelessness with a pristine, achingly beautiful soundtrack of soothing strings and muted horns.
Listen to "Paperback Bible" here (RealPlayer needed)
Wait. When did it become 1976 again? Both the Scissor Sisters' new single "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" (Universal Motown) and the new John Legend single "Save Room" (Getting Out Our Dreams/Sony Urban) sound like the past 30 years of popular music never happened. The Sisters have crafted the answer to the Bee Gees' "You Should Be Dancing," as Jake Shears and Ana Matronic harmonize like a truck full of Gibb brothers over a disco groove that will make you want to bust out The Hustle. Legend, on the other hand, sounds like he's swiped a Burt Bacharach song - complete with organ solos and glossy background vocals - from Dionne Warwick. Can a Jimmy Carter revival be far behind?
Listen to "I Don't Feel Like Dancing" here
Listen to "Save Room" here
Busta Rhymes was arraigned yesterday on an assault charge stemming from an incident in which he reportedly attacked a man for spitting on his car, reports Newsday's Jennifer Smith. Rhymes, a Brooklyn-born rapper who grew up in Uniondale and rose to prominence in the Long Island hip-hop scene, was arrested Saturday night after performing at the AmsterJam Music Festival on Randalls Island.
And maybe the tangle with the po-po affected Busta's AmsterJam performance, which Ira Robbins called "rough and crude." (Full review)
This was in my inbox the other day and it reminded me of something I've been thinking all season long on "Rockstar: Supernova": Why exactly does Ryan Star need to be in Tommy Lee's new band? I thought his stuff with Stage was great and the solo stuff I've heard is just as good. This clip shows how he's on a completely different level from nearly everyone else on the show. I'd buy this in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, it's the only one of Star's performances not for sale on MSN Music. Guess I'll have to wait til he puts it on his new solo record.
After years of being on everyone’s most-promising-rapper lists, Rick Ross arrives with a bang, as his debut “Port of Miami” sells 187,000 copies. Breaking Benjamin takes No. 2 with “Phobia” on sales of 125,000.
Full Billboard report
Newsday's Top Albums and Singles (compiled by Billboard) on the jump
Zayra Alvarez won the battle against Ryan Star, but lost the war.
OK, Justin fans, here's your chance. Mr. SexyBack will play a free show in Central Park's East Meadow on Aug. 28, as part of an episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that will air on Sept. 4. Here's the catch... you need a ticket to get into the taping. Call 866.355.3684 to get a ticket or go to ellentv.com for more info. You can thank us later.
The Dixie Chicks concert, postponed at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater because of 100-degree heat earlier this month, was officially cancelled yesterday.
The concert’s promoter said that due to scheduling conflicts, no available date could be found for the band to return before the Jones Beach season ended.
Separately, the Reggae Sunsplash 2006 Tour with UB40, Maxi Priest and Third World set for Thursday at North Fork Theatre at Westbury has been cancelled due to “production restrictions.”
The tour opted to cancel the show because one band “can’t perform in the round and felt the stage was too small for their production,” said Dan Kellachan, the theater’s marketing manager. The cancellation is unusual since bands generally get detailed information about the nature and size of the performance space before they sign the contract to perform. Kellachan said the theatre provided this information to the tour and did not hear of any problems until yesterday.
Refunds for both shows are available at the point of purchase.
Taking Back Sunday landed an MTV Video Music Awards nomination yesterday for its "MakeDamnSure" clip, as the channel announced the nominees for its MTV2 award. The winner will be announced during the MTV2 broadcast of the ceremonies on Aug. 31 at Radio City Music Hall. This year marks the first time that MTV2 will show its own version of the awards show, as well as the first time winners will all be determined by Internet voting.
Taking Back Sunday's "MakeDamnSure" is up against 30 Seconds to Mars' "The Kill," Three 6 Mafia's "Stay Fly," Lil Wayne's "Fireman" and Yung Joc featuring Nitty's "It's Goin' Down."
Vote for the MTV2 Award here
Watch "MakeDamnSure" here.
Christina Aguilera's new double album, "Back to Basics" (RCA), is a textbook example of how most good double albums could have been great single albums. She uncorks several brilliant moments over the course of the 22-song set - with wrenching ballads, bluesy surprises and some clever tweaking of musical standards. Unfortunately, the power of those breakthroughs is blunted by too many songs that are similar but not quite as good.
Full review
Listen to "Back to Basics" here
"Unappreciated" (Sho'nuff/Capitol), the latest album from the Cherish sisters - Farrah, 22, Neosha, 20, and twins Felisha and Fallon, 18 - is long on R&B-flavored sweetness and Jazze Pha production, but a little short on strong songs. When the sisters get a hold of a good one, like the current fizzy single "Do It to It" or the bounce-inducing "Chick Like Me," it becomes clear why they look like the next Destiny's Child. Unfortunately, "Unappreciated" seems a little underfed. ("Unappreciated," in stores today; grade: B-)
Listen to "Unappreciated" and "Do It To It" here
Evanescence's new single, "Call Me When You're Sober" (Wind-Up), sounds cobbled together from stray "heavy" rock parts, faux toughness to hide the fact that Amy Lee is really a Sarah McLachlan wanna-be prancing through Elvira's closet. Unfortunately, the band can't even be bothered to keep up the charade. "Sober" is only 3:34 long, but two-thirds of the way through, they've already forgotten the chugging guitars designed to toughen the opening, and we're left with Lee living out her Lilith Fair fantasies while modeling her mall-goth finery. We won't get fooled again.
Listen to "Call Me When You're Sober" here.
Long Island's best-known resident was in a generous mood Friday night, showing up unannounced at a free concert in Huntington and promising to donate a piano to a local arts group.
Full story here.
On the current tour, Dashboard Confessional acknowledges the past with the emotional, painstakingly detailed sing-alongs that still make their live show unique, while still looking toward the future with the big, broad, stadium-ready rock anthems that dominate the new “Dusk and Summer” (Vagrant) album.
Full review
SETLIST: Heaven Here / Rooftops and Invitations / The Good Fight / The Swiss Army Romance / The Secret's in the Telling / Again, I Go Unnoticed / Ghost of a Good Thing / Gone, Gone, Gone (w/ John Ralston) / Dusk and Summer / Remember to Breathe (w/Max Bemis) / Screaming Infidelities / So Long, So Long / Stolen / Don't Wait // ENCORES: Vindicated / Hands Down
Imagine OutKast as a live band or The Roots steeped in indie rock and you get close to the Gym Class Heroes sound. And with its second album, "As Cruel as Schoolchildren" (Decaydance), the Geneva, N.Y., quartet has honed that sound into one that could conquer the mainstream the way it has the Warped Tour crowds.
Watch "New Friend Request" below or other videos here.
That pesky "Now 22" compilation spoils DMX's perfect record of No. 1 debuts by returning to the top spot with 127,000 copies sold last week. DMX's "Year of the Dog... Again" (Sony Urban) enters at No. 2 with sales of 126,000.
Full Billboard report here
Newsday's Top Albums and Singles (compiled by Billboard) on the jump
Ryan Star landed in the bottom three for the first time and survived the cut, but his fellow Long Islander Jill Gioia wasn't so lucky.
Straylight Run went into the studio in July but the band is just now posting its video diaries of the recording process. Actually, make that the "riding bikes through the hallways" process.
"American Idol" honcho Simon Fuller told the L.A. Times that next season's finalists will sing songs that will be written by prospective songwriters and voted on by the audience in a contest that will run parallel to the traditional "Idol" TV show. The organizers finally realized that the new Idols and their fans deserve far more than "Do I Make You Proud" or "Flying Without Wings."
OK Go is back with another hilarious, inventive video. It makes you wish their music was a little better, but it's hard to complain watching the synchronized treadmill hopping.
Rick Ross' debut album, "Port of Miami" (Def Jam), is a summer blockbuster - complete with gunfights, car chases, drug dealing, Mile High Club sex, a rags-to-riches anti-hero, a grand hip-hop soundtrack and its own catch phrase: "Roussssss."
Listen to "Port of Miami" here.
"Me & You," the debut single from 19-year-old onetime Abercrombie & Fitch model Cassie, is a sweet little slip of a pop song - a delicate aural origami smartly crafted by producer Ryan Leslie out of synthesizer plinks and whispered sweet nothings that still manages to deliver a killer hook. Most of "Cassie," though, is a tribute to her role model Janet Jackson, from the phrasing of her breathy vocals to the good-natured sass. Cassie's "Not With You" could be the stripped-down sequel to Jackson's "Someone to Call My Lover" and "About Time" would fit nicely among the cooing ballads from "Damita Jo."
Listen to "Me & You" here
Fergie steps away from her Black Eyed Peas pals on "London Bridge" (Interscope) to get her funk groove on. Built on a cranky horn sample similar to one from Beyoncé's "Work It Out" or Amerie's "One Thing," "London Bridge" is meant for the dance floor, so that the big beat and catchy, "Hollaback Girl"-like chorus distract you from clunky lines like "Now I wish that I didn't wear these shoes." Thanks to Polow Da Don's sharp production, though, it all hangs together as one of summer's hottest guilty pleasures.
Watch "London Bridge" here.
So an Italian, a Mexican and a Puerto Rican walk into a live music venue... No, it's not the start of a joke, it's the Latin pop tour "Juntos En Concierto" featuring Marc Anthony, who spiced up Jones Beach Saturday night.
Read the full review here.
There was a kid walking around this year’s Warped Tour wearing a bandana around his mouth, dressed in a dust-covered t-shirt and holding a cardboard sign that said “R.I.P. Randalls.” Ah, irony.
Sure, the Nassau Coliseum parking lot had its problems – a lack of shade to avoid the nine hours of searing sun, the unforgiving asphalt for fallen body surfers, and a surprising lack of trash cans. But I must say, it was so nice to leave a Warped Tour not caked in dirt, not coughing up dust, able to watch entire sets without having the dust clouds of dirt kicked up by the moshers not stinging your eyes. Maybe that’s why I had such a good time. Or maybe it was all the good music.
The Top 10 songs from this year’s Warped Tour on the jump
Continue reading "Warped Tour @ Nassau Coliseum Parking Lot, 8.5.06" »
Er, wha-wha-what?! According to Rollilng Stone, Johnny Marr has joined Modest Mouse full time, after working on the band's forthcoming album. “He made a cautious commitment to write and record with us, and then the tighter we got, he was like, ‘okay, let’s tour too,’” Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock told Rolling Stone. “Then he was pretty much a member of the band - not pretty much. He’s a full blown member of the band. It’s really ---- nice.”
Just because one-third of the Backstage Pass posse is sad he missed their Long Island show on Wednesday at the Crazy Donkey...
A high-res version of the video is here.
Island Def Jam's massive, marathon push for "Sam's Town" (the album won't be released until October) isn't just a vote of confidence for the Killers. It's a rare sign of faith for a young rock band - a bet that new rockers can still sell albums, even as the previous establishment for building them continues to crumble.
Listen to "When You Were Young" here.
Six years after leaving Destiny’s Child, LeToya Luckett is back at the top of the charts with her debut album “LeToya” (Capitol), on sales of 165,000 copies. Pharrell’s “In My Mind” (Interscope) comes in at No. 3 with 142,000 copies sold and Tom Petty’s “Highway Companion” comes in at No. 4 with 112,000 copies sold.
Full Billboard report here
Newsday's Top Albums and Singles (compiled by Billboard) on the jump
Ryan Star knocked the wind out of Lukas Rossi's sails this week, and for the first time the Supernova judges seemed to ask themselves: Could Star be our man?
The Dixie Chicks have postponed tonight's show at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater due to the heat and concern for their fans. Ticket holders should hold on to their tickets until a rescheduled date and refund info is announced.
The Dixie Chicks – Natalie Maines and sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison – are still rightfully riled about being demonized and the targets of death threats for simply speaking their minds. And, generally, their fiery performances benefit from that anger. But there were times during the band’s 110-minute set at Madison Square Garden where it became painfully clear how much better off they will be if, or when, they let all that anger go.
SETLIST: Lubbock Or Leave It / Truth No. 2 / Goodbye Earl / The Long Way Around / Landslide / Everybody Knows / I Like It / Cowboy Take Me Away / Lullaby / White Trash Wedding / Lil' Jack Slade / Not Ready to Make Nice / Easy Silence / Long Time Gone / Some Days You Gotta Dance / So Hard / Top of the World / Wide Open Spaces / Sin Wagon // ENCORES: Travelin' Soldier / Mississippi / Ready to Run
Shakira's truth-telling hips and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' romp through rock history are this year's
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