Backstage Pass

The pics on the left are from Mariah Carey's new video "Bye Bye," shot in March and reportedly the first time she met Nick Cannon. The pic on the right is from this week's People magazine, in stores on Friday, where she confirms to the magazine that the couple got married at her Bahamian home on April 30. Wow.

Now I'm the first to admit that I thought this was some weird, elaborate practical joke/publicity stunt to drum up interest in "Bye Bye," which, frankly, didn't need it. It just seemed out of character for the driven, methodical Mariah to do something so impulsive -- and in the middle of her album rollout, no less. And yet she did it. "I never felt a love like this was in the cards for me," she tells People.

Mimi must really be emancipated now. Good for her.

Check out the "Bye Bye" video, which could pretty much double for their wedding video anyway, below. 

Not to get all psychic, but I'm going to guess that the question on most New Yorkers' minds this weekend will be: "Why on earth is the Empire State Building lit up in lavender, pink and white?"

The answer, of course, is: Mariah Carey.

To celebrate the No. 1 debut of the Greenlawn native's "E=MC2" album this week, the Empire State Building will get all dolled up in the album's lavender, pink and white color scheme from Friday night till Monday morning.

PHOTO: An unlit Empire State Building by the State of New York.

Anyone else wonder where Leona Lewis' British accent goes when she sings about how she keeps bleeding, keeps-keeps bleeding love?

She does too, actually. "I’ve always sang that way," she told me. "My accent is much more prominent when I speak. I was classically trained so the vowels that I sing are much more open because I think it has a better sound."

But she also says it could be that so many of her musical influences -- like Mariah Carey -- were American.

More from my chat with Leona here. 

PHOTO: J Records 

Leona Lewis sets out to conquer America [Newsday] 

By animating it, a few of his characters get to come to life, though the animation he conjures in our heads on songs like "Bad Liver and a Broken Heart" is probably better.

Carll's debut is in stores on Tuesday. He plays Bowery Ballroom on May 1.

Watch movie

The one-two punch – “Living Well Is the Best Revenge” and “Man-Sized Wreath” – that opens R.E.M.’s new album “Accelerate” is its most potent in more than a decade, a sure sign that the band is shaking off whatever issues have plagued them on recent albums.

But it doesn’t quite break into the Top 5 openers in the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers’ impressive history. Here’s a look at the band’s best opening salvos:

5. Reckoning (1984, IRS): “Harborcoat” and “7 Chinese Brothers” helped define what the “college rock” movement of the mid-‘80s would become. They were songs that were as brainy and sentimental as an auditorium filled with English majors, but they also managed to still rock hard enough to hold their own against the tough guys.

She's known as the kid sister of Rufus, but Martha Wainwright is an artist in her own, er, wright. Anyone who saw Rufus's two-day Judy Garland tribute at Carnegie Hall in 2006 will remember how little Martha not only stole the spotlight during her wild, audacious version of "Stormy Weather" but also brought the amazed crowd to its feet.

Now Martha is following her eponymous debut disc with "I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too" (Zoe/Rounder), to be released June 10. (She likes attention-grabbing titles: She once released an EP whose title was merely a string of vulgarities.) The disc is a star-studded affair, featuring Pete Townshend, Donald Fagen, Garth Hudson and, of course, Martha's famous mother and aunt, Kate and Anna McGarrigle.

Check out a new track, "You Cheated Me," up for a limited time at Martha's MySpace page, which also features a live recording of "Stormy Weather."

Local musicians are up in arms about Newsday's coverage of "Kristen," the high-priced prostitute who brought down Eliot Spitzer and who also happens to be an aspiring singer.

Targets of rage include Kristen, Newsday, the mass media and the music industry in general. Here are some sample comments from the Long Island Music Scene message booard on Yahoo!:

"Now we all know how hard it is to get reviewed by Newsday, oddly enough, if you're Eliot Spitzer's call girl, they will promote your music. ...this is a slap in the face to those of us who are busting our ----, to see ourselves passed over, only to see someone on the front page who took the easy way out."

"Contrary to some folks' belief that newspapers exist to serve the public (and that may actually have been true long, long ago), they exist, in reality, to make money... Most of us here do what we do musically because it's who and what we are. We do it for the joy of it all. I refuse to let the stupid stuff that goes on all around it spoil that joy for me."

"All valid points, it's just disheartening as a woman in music...is this how far we've come? It used to be you had to dress or act like a 'ho' to make it in music. These days, I guess you actually have to be one... I'm also disheartened at the sympathy this girl is getting...people forget she's a criminal, she broke the law and belongs in jail, not on the radio or on MTV."

"Unfortunately this is OUR fault! This generation is so caught up with 'celebrity' that untalented people can now make a living by just showing up somewhere for a fee, ala Hilton, Federline, etc... I gave up Newsday about 3 months ago and feel better about myself not supporting a rag that basically ignores the real Long Island Music Scene."

"Just to add insult to injury, AM New York reported that this girl has sold over 2 million copies of her song online in the last week. Unbelievable!!!"

A singer-songwriter, violinist and guitarist, Joan Wasser has been part of New York's indie-rock scene for years. Though initially overshadowed by her relationship with Jeff Buckley -- they were dating at the time of his death in 1997 -- she's since made a name for herself playing with Rufus Wainwright, Joseph Arthur, Antony and The Johnsons and Sparklehorse. Her own band, Joan as Police Woman, is set to release a new album, "To Survive," on Cheap Lullaby Records on June 10.

Wasser earned rave reviews for her previous disc, "Real Life," and her strong-yet-fragile voice should have made her a contender with the Feists and Cat Powers of the world. She may have a shot at the title with this next disc, at least judging by the beautiful, smoky first single, "To Be Loved."

Check out that track at Wasser's MySpace page here, or watch her charmingly odd video for "Eternal Flame," from the previous album, below.

Wasser will play a one-off show May 14 at The Mercury Lounge in Manhattan.

Jeff Buckley, who died in 1997 at the age of 30, is back on the charts this week.

Buckley's song "Hallelujah" entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at No. 1 with 178,000 downloads, according to Billboard.biz, which also noted that his 1994 album "Grace" debuted at No. 10 on the top Pop Catalog Albums chart, selling 7,000 copies.

If Buckley were still with us, he'd have to thank "American Idol." The contestant Jason Castro recently performed the song, originally written and sung by Leonard Cohen, on the show.

Buckley, the son of the troubled troubadour Tim Buckley, who also died prematurely at the age of 28, was a singular presence in the grunge-based rock scene of the 1990s. With his haunting, almost almost feminine voice and a penchant for wild electric guitar solos, Buckley became a cult item who seemed poised -- but not fated -- to break into the mainstream. His version of Cohen's "Hallelujah," which he often stretched into a 10-minute-plus epic in concert, became the definitive version of the song for a generation.

Buckley may well maintain his posthumous chart success next week. When Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, the Irish singer Damien Rice performed yet another version of "Hallelujah."

See the video for the song here, or visit the Buckley site, apparently still maintained by Columbia Records, here.

After news leaked that Fox Searchlight chose 27-year-old Jamal Woolard, known as Gravy on the mixtape circuit, to play The Notorious B.I.G. in its upcoming biopic, I decided to hunt him down on MySpace.

There appear to be two heavy-set rappers named Gravy listed -- what are the odds? -- but I am pretty sure I found the right one, given that he's labeled his head-shot with the Biggie-like slogan "Still Ready To Die." Check it out:

http://www.myspace.com/freigo

Is his flow good enough to play Biggie? You be the judge.

Billboard.com asked more than a dozen artists to pick the best music of 2007 and got some fairly typical answers -- all the indie bands love each other, it seems -- but some of the responses were surprising.

Who knew, for instance, that Jessica Simpson likes the ethereal Icelandic composers Sigur Ros and the hipster electro-rock band Mute Math? "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee put Radiohead's spacey latest, "In Rainbows," at the top of her list. Ozzy Osbourne voted for Paul McCartney's mellow "Memory Almost Full" (along with Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" and The White Stripes' "Icky Thump.") And what were the baby-faced Jonas Brothers doing at a Genesis concert, which made their top three?

Other artists' lists come off as suspiciously "eclectic." The classical pianist Lang Lang, for instance, cited Pavarotti, Bocelli, Chris Botti, Norah Jones -- and Kanye West. By contrast, Babyface didn't even try to stretch: He chose Colbie Callait, Maroon 5, Chrisette Michele and Amy Winehouse.

PHOTO: Billboard.com 

Here in the New York area, radio stations switched to the ever-popular holiday format around Thanksgiving. You wouldn't think people wanted to hear "Jingle Bell Rock" over and over and over, but in fact they love it. Stations say their holiday format invariably boosts ratings, which means it's popular with advertisers, too.

Billboard first started tracking the holiday chart back in 2001, not long after radio stations invented the format, and it recently released the latest numbers. Despite a few obvious chart-toppers, like Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas," there are a couple of surprises.

One is the complete absence of anything by Josh Groban in the Top 30, despite a No. 1 Christmas album, "Noel."  Could it be that even carol-humming housewives have gotten sick of him? Another shocker is that Wham! UK's "Last Christmas" didn't make the Top Ten, despite being, like, the best holiday track ever. Also, if you're sick of hearing Band-Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" every year, you are mostly alone -- it's at No. 13.

Here are the top ten songs on the Billboard Hot Holiday Songs chart:

1.  Brenda Lee, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" (MCA)

2. Bobby Helms, "Jingle Bell Rock" (Decca)

3. John Lennon and Yoko Ono, "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" (Capitol)

4. Burl Ives, "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (MCA)

5. Mariah Carey, "All I Want for Christmas is You" (Columbia)

6. Nat King Cole, "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)" (Capitol)

7. Eagles, "Please Come Home For Christmas" (Asylum)

8. Jose Feliciano, "Feliz Navidad" (RCA)

9. Bing Crosby, "White Christmas" (MCA)

10. Andy Williams, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Columbia)

And just in case you've forgotten how good it really is:

An enjoyable way to pass the time is Liam Finn's Lightning Game, a cute, almost emo-style video game in which the object is to keep the stars in the sky -- awww. But you do run the risk of being electrocuted to death.

It's basically a promotional Web gimmick for Finn (son of Neil Finn, of Split Enz and Crowded House), who's been drawing rave reviews for his one-man, multi-instrumental shows. His album, "I'll Be Lightning" has only been released in Australia (where he was born) and New Zealand (where he was raised), but is scheduled to come out in the U.S. on Jan 22 through Yep Roc Records.

Check out the Lightning Game, whilst listening to Finn's music, of course, here.

PHOTO: Shore Fire Media 

The super-pop producer Jermaine Dupri, possibly the last person you'd expect to tout the artistic integrity of the album format, has done just that in an op-ed for The Huffington Post, possibly the last place you'd expect to read anything by Jermaine Dupri.

In yesterday's piece, Dupri defends Jay-Z's decision to not sell his album "American Gangster" through iTunes, which would have made the songs available as stand-alone singles.

"Creating each album as a body of work that means something gives the consumer something better to listen to," writes Dupri, who worked on the Jay-Z disc. "Otherwise all anyone would care about is making a bunch of ringtones."

That's pretty lofty talk from the man behind Kriss Kross and Dem Franchize Boyz. But Dupri make some salient points. He argues that musicians, and the music industry, need to take back control from the consumer.

That's a seemingly backwards attitude in an era driven by consumer control, freedom of choice and on-demand entertainment. But Dupri's logic is sound: By choosing which singles to release -- and not to release -- artists historically were able to sustain excitement among audiences, keep albums alive longer and perhaps even coax the casual listnener into buying not just the fleeting hits but the whole package. In Dupri's view, that's how fans were made; that's how careers were built; that's how music will stay alive even today.

Is this a timeless truism or a sigh of nostalgia? Read the whole essay here.

PHOTO: www.jermainedupri.com 

In preparation for tonight's big Roger Federer/Andy Roddick match at the U.S. Open, the timing seemed right to discuss Roddick's musical tastes, which he revealed on Sirius Satellite Radio's Celebrity Shuffle show this morning.

Guilty Pleasure: Lionel Richie, "You Are"

Favorite Drinking Song: Neil Diamond, "Sweet Caroline" and Dexy's Midnight Runners, "Come on Eileen"

Song He Must See Performed Live Before He Dies: Bon Jovi, "Living on a Prayer"

Roddick must know he's going to need a lot of prayers in order to get past Federer, who has beaten him 13 of the 14 times they've played, but the New York crowd got him fired up enough last year to make the match interesting for a little while. Maybe some Bon Jovi or a mix of his other faves -- U2, The Killers and Dave Matthews Band -- played on the changeovers could pump him up.

Roddick's show on Sirius airs again at 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. today.

PHOTO: J. Conrad Williams Jr. / Newsday

[For a real story on the match, check out John Jeansonne's coverage here.]

TICKETS BEEN GONE: Kelly Clarkson's shows at the Beacon Theater on Oct. 15 and 16 sold out in 20 minutes over the weekend. Her management quickly added a third show on Oct. 14, which also sold out. With that good news under her belt, Clarkson can now roll out the rest of her fall tour. Smart thinking.

BRING YOUR OWN PEN!: Northern State, our favorite female hip-hop group named after our favorite parkway, will sign copies of their new "Can I Keep This Pen?" (Ipecac) album at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square starting at 6:30. Their record release party is tomorrow night at Luna Lounge. (The whole album is now streaming at AOL's Spinner.)

BO DIDDLEY, BO DIDDLEY: Get well soon. The guitar legend suffered a heart attack on Friday. But after emergency surgery, he was moved out of intensive care this morning and is listed in stable condition.

Bruce Springsteen's next album is said to be a return to form, but The Boss is pursuing a new-fangled marketing plan with his first single, "Radio Nowhere," available today as a free download through iTunes.

Of course it's been leaked -- perhaps officially -- to various places. A station in Youngstown, Ohio, was reportedly the first to air the song last Thursday (Columbia Records immediately told the station to stop) and the tune also made its way onto YouTube. Some YouTube links work fine, like the one below, but at least one link was apparently halted by the RIAA. (Does that mean one link is officially sanctioned, but another wasn't? Or did the RIAA just give up?) In the UK, the newspaper The Guardian is offering it as a free download, but it doesn't work -- you can only stream it.

"Magic," Springsteen's first disc with the E Street Band in five years, is due Oct. 2 on Columbia Records. The group plays Oct. 9-10 at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, and Oct 17-18 at Madison Square Garden. Tickets go on sale Sept. 10.

Here's the YouTube posting:

Not sure why exactly, but, somehow, "Chocolate Rain" has struck a chord, resulting in loads of remixes, answer versions and covers from unexpected artists.

Illdoctrine.com, "Chocolate Rain" vs. Radiohead's "Talk Show Host"

On the jump, Green Day's Tre Cool takes a stab at it and John Mayer mixes it with Nelly Furtado.

The Holloways are the latest snot-rockers to come out of Britain, following Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Art Brut. But their particular type of snot is the kind that runs down your nose after a good cry. They're essentially a fun, funny bad -- they almost sound like they're giggling their way through each bouncy, hopped-up pop tune -- but the lyrics are all laments. Laments for girls, mostly, but also for England, for society and for any sensitive soul living in this cruel, cruel world.

It's too early to predict how this new Williamsburg band will effect the New York rock scene, but a few MySpace demos and a four-song maxi-single called “Chubby Dancer” give off an energy that will eventually need to be dealt with. The band's best track, “Absolutely Clear,” has the fresh, invigorating sound of early '70s power-pop, though it also has an alluring dark streak.

The band's next show is Aug. 24 at Cake Shop in Brooklyn. Click here for music.

Most acts who get dropped by a major label before their debut album is released don't want to talk about the experience. Luckily, rapper Akira the Don is not like most musicians.

The earlier, uberpop songs they heard, like Oh! (What A Glorious Thing), were met by the label with great joy. But when they heard my Live8, legalised genocide and loony Christian right-dissing "Thanks For All The Aids," things went a bit Simon Bates.

Read his personal tale on The Guardian's blogs here

Listen to "Oh!" here

Photo of Akira the Don by Carter Smith/Akirathedon.com

There's a whole cavalcade of boxed set reviews over on the Newsday site.

But here's a few you shouldn't miss:

ORPHANS: BRAWLERS, BAWLERS AND BASTARDS. So much brilliant new Tom Waits material, it will keep even the biggest fan happy for months. Three CDs, Anti-, $49.98. Unlike most boxed sets, "Orphans" is all new, a way for Tom Waits (and his wife and longtime collaborator, Kathleen Brennan) to organize the sprawling creativity that bursts from his head. The "Brawlers" CD is the most contemporary, as Waits stretches his meticulous, detailed stories over an equally inventive array of beats - from the clomping beatbox of "Lucinda" to the jumpy, surf-guitar-augmented "Lie to Me" and the moody, churning version of "Sea of Love." The "Bawlers" CD is more cinematic, with the aching country guitars that make "Young at Heart" a bit more hopeful or the Celtic lilt that makes "Widow's Grove" a bit sweeter. The "Bastards" CD is filled with musical experiments and spoken word performances. Any one of these CDs would be plenty to be proud of. Together, they show the breadth and depth of Waits' singular talent.

Listen to "You Can Never Hold Back Spring" here.

PIRATE RADIO. Indisputable proof the Pretenders were, are and will always be the real thing. Four CDs, one DVD, Rhino, $74.98. All the complexities of the great Chrissie Hynde are on display in this set - the tough rocker ("Precious") with the tender side ("I'll Stand by You") who balances family ("Thumbelina") with fame ("Talk of the Town") and still manages to keep her soul intact. Never mind that she's a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer who's endured two of rock's most tragic deaths - the losses of Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon, felt even more deeply after seeing them on the set's DVD of TV performances - or that she was essentially the template for women in rock, from the hem of her leather pants to the bangs in her eyes. Hynde is one of rock's most sure-footed lyricists and distinctive vocalists. (Listen to what she does with Radiohead's "Creep" or Morrissey's "Everyday Is Like Sunday" or the Beatles' "Not a Second Time.") "Pirate Radio" collects all of the band's greatest work - including songs from the underrated "Loose Screw" album - in one place for the first time, along with 15 demos and B-sides that often show Hynde's lighter side.

Listen to samples from "Pirate Radio" here

Welcome to Backstage Pass, brought to you by the folks who bring you Newsday's pop music coverage. It's our way of getting you breaking music news and concert reviews faster, along with some behind-the-scenes and under-the-radar stuff. We'll even throw in links to new songs and videos because this is, after all, about the music.