NewsMusic

‘Our role models are Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon,’ says the singer

Updated 2:31 p.m. ET April 27, 2009

NEW YORK - When Pink came up with the circus-themed theatrics for her “Funhouse” tour, she didn’t think she’d be sharing her big-top theme with another pop singer.


She sighs with resignation when a comparison is made to Britney Spears’ latest tour, “The Circus,” which, like Pink’s tour, features high-flying dancers and acrobats, and is a grand spectacle.

Both Pink and Spears based their theme on the title of their latest album (both CDs were released last year; Pink’s came out first). Spears’ tour opened in March. Tickets for the U.S. leg of Pink’s tour, which started in Europe, go on sale Saturday.

“Had I known that certain other people were going to base their latest thing about circus things, I probably would have went into another direction,” the big-voiced, 29-year-old singer says. “I was six months before that and didn’t really understand that it was a trend that was happening. I’m pretty out of the loop.”

Not that anyone would confuse their tours. Spears’ show is a lip-synched, dance-oriented affair, while Pink says her show is all about gritty, emotional rock ’n’ roll — “two hours of group therapy.”

In a recent interview, she talked about channeling her feelings through song, getting back together with her ex-husband and her philosophy on love.

AP: You say this is your first headlining tour in the U.S. What took you so long?

Pink: I don’t know. I’ve put a lot of work in as far as being a touring artist, and I’ve been doing it on a pretty large scale for seven or eight years now (overseas).

AP: Lots of musicians have used the circus for inspiration. Why do you think artists connect with circuses?

Pink: All of us when we were little probably wanted to run away and join the circus because it’s full of what mainstream society considers freakish and the outcasts, and it’s kind of sexy and exciting and big and over the top.

AP: There’s been talk that you and Carey Hart are getting back together and even remarrying. Is that true?

Pink: I don’t know where the remarriage thing came from. That kind of came out of the air. We are definitely back together.

AP: What did you take away from your time apart?

Pink: We try to protect ourselves from being fully in love and fully open and fully vulnerable, and really all we’re doing is protecting ourselves from love and real love and the opportunity to really learn and grow with another person, so it’s actually really detrimental, and you think it’s helping.

AP: So your advice would be ...

Pink: Dive in. Absolutely, it’s not going to kill you.

AP: So would you remarry?

Pink: We never really legally got divorced. Paperwork for both of us is really annoying (laughs). So we’re choosing to be together. Our role models are Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon and Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn — people who just choose to be together every day because they want to be there. And labels have never been our thing, so, we’re just diving into that empty swimming pool, headfirst.

AP: Much of the last record dealt with your split. Is it hard to sing those songs now?

Pink: Aside from a few songs that are completely vulnerable for me, when I’m writing even my angry kind of “So What,” for me, it’s every emotion involved — I’m being sarcastic, I’m being silly, I’m being angry, I’m all of these emotions, all at the same time, so I include them in my songs. So it’s still silly, it’s still funny, I still have anger. It’s really easy to just be right back there. ... I don’t have a hard time transplanting myself straight back to that moment.

April 25, 2009 ET

Fantasies Metric Release Date: no month , Apri Producer(s): Gavin Brown, Jimmy Shaw Genre: ROCK Label/Catalog Number: Metric Music International

Metric's 2005 album, "Live It Out," contained themes of giving up and giving in, but the band's latest effort, "Fantasies," is very much the opposite. In the opener "Help I'm Alive," frontwoman Emily Haines sings, "I get wherever I'm going, I get whatever I need," and that in-control attitude holds true through the rest of the record. With "Fantasies," the first release on the band's own Metric Music International label, the Canadian quartet continues to polish its spacey, new wave-colored sound that's heavy with buzzing synths and echoed vocals. Brisk, dissonant acoustic chords and frenetic shouts accent "Gold Guns Girls," while the adrenaline runs just as strongly in "Front Row." Although Haines asks for just what the title implies on "Gimme Sympathy," her surge in confidence suggests that she doesn't really need it.—LL

April 24, 2009 03:50 PM ET
Mitchell Peters, L.A.
Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp will share the bill during a U.S. summer tour of minor league baseball parks, beginning July 2 at the GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill., and wrapping Aug. 15 at the Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif.



The upcoming 22-date tour marks the second time over the past 24 years that Dylan, Nelson and Mellencamp have shared the staged, according to a news release.

Most of the ballpark concerts will general admission seating, with tickets priced at $67.50. Children under the age of 14 will be given free admittance if accompanied by an adult ticket holder. Tickets go on sale beginning May 2 at select ballpark box offices and through ticketmaster.com.

Dylan is currently touring arenas in the United Kingdom through early May, where he'll will perform back-to-back shows at the O2 in Dublin, Ireland. The artist is also set to perform at the second annual Rothbury festival in Michigan on July 5.

Dylan's upcoming tour plans are in support of his forthcoming album "Together Through Life," due April 28 on Columbia. His 2006 studio set "Modern Times" has sold 992,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

April 24, 2009 09:09 AM ET
The Rev. Timothy Wright, the Grammy-nominated gospel singer and composer known for his up-tempo praise songs and powerful mass choir sound, has died. He was 61.

The Rev. Timothy Wright, the Grammy-nominated gospel singer and composer, died early Thursday at the Bronx Veterans Hospital.

Wright, who was seriously injured in a car crash that killed his wife and grandson, died early Thursday at the Bronx Veterans Hospital, music agent Will Bogle said.

Timothy Wright was the pastor at Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Church of God in Christ, located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. He released more than a dozen gospel recordings, writing many of the songs. His latest album, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," came out in 2007.

In 1994, his record "Come Thou Almighty King," with the New York Fellowship Mass Choir, made the Billboard Top 20 charts for gospel albums and was nominated for a Grammy for best traditional soul gospel album.
He got another nomination in that category in 1999 for "Been There Done That," recorded with the B/J Mass Choir and featuring Myrna Summers.

"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" features the New York Fellowship Mass Choir. The title track, written by Wright and his wife and recorded live at a Church of God in Christ convocation, expresses the plight of a woman displaced during Hurricane Katrina: She encourages herself and others by calling the name of Jesus. Among the other songs on the album was "You Must Come In At the Door."
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According to the book "Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Encyclopedia," by Bil Carpenter, the Brooklyn-born Wright began playing piano for his local church at age 12 and also began composing at a young age.

By his early 20s, he was music director at Brooklyn's Washington Temple Church of God in Christ.

He began writing songs for such fellow musicians as Mattie Moss Clark and the Rev. Isaac Douglas, according to Carpenter's book, and in 1976 formed the Timothy Wright Concert Choir. Among the choir's albums were "Who's on the Lord's Side?" and "Do You Know the Light?"

Wright was critically injured July 4 in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 80 near Loganton, Pa. Another car was going the wrong way when it struck Wright's car.

His wife, Betty Wright, 58, was killed in the crash, and their 14-year-old grandson, D.J. Wright, died later at a hospital.

The driver of the wrong-way car, John Pick, also was killed, while a passenger in a third car was injured.

The Wrights were returning from a Church of God in Christ conference in Detroit, said Leroy Johnson, a trustee at Grace Tabernacle.

Note: Resource from billboard.com

21st Century Breakdown is the upcoming eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day.This will be Green Day’s first album to be produced by renowned producer and Garbage member Butch Vig, though he has had minor production jobs in other Green Day albums such as Dookie.



This album follows 2004’s critically acclaimed American Idiot. Regarding the pressure, Billie Joe Armstrong said, “We could take a sideways step or go back to our roots. We chose to move forward. It’s about reflecting what’s been happening the past three years and putting it to melody with some bold statements.”[2] The band has also stated that “This album is more.. religious,” and it is influenced by Queen, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, and The Clash. Green Day has been working on the album since 2006, but the band showed no signs of a new album until a video of the band recording in studio was posted on YouTube in October 2008. Wikipedia

Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

Act I - Heroes and Cons

1. “Song of the Century”
2. “21st Century Breakdown”
3. “Know Your Enemy” - 3:12
4. “Viva la Gloria!”
5. “Before the Lobotomy”
6. “Christian’s Inferno”
7. “Last Night on Mars”

Act II - Charlatans and Saints

8. “East Jesus Nowhere”
9. “Peacemaker”
10. “Last of the American Girls”
11. “Murder City”
12. “Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)”
13. “Restless Heart Syndrome”

Act III - Horseshoes and Handgrenades

14. “Horseshoes and Handgrenades”
15. “The Static Age”
16. “21 Guns”
17. “American Eulogy”

I. Mass Hysteria
II. Modern World

18. “See the Light”

Non-Album Tracks

1. Lights Out - 2:16
2. Hearts Collide

April 23, 2009 08:37 AM ET
Two of the seven remaining finalists on TV's "American Idol," Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai, were sent home on Wednesday when fans cast the fewest votes for their performances during the hit talent show's disco-themed week.

Lil Rounds and Anoop Desai were eliminated on Wednesday night's "American Idol."

Rounds, who sang "I'm Every Woman," and Desai, who performed "Dim All the Lights," had both faced elimination in recent weeks by repeatedly placing among the bottom vote-getters, and both seemed resigned to their fates.

"I'm still really disappointed," Desai, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said during the program.

"I'm coming home," added Rounds, addressing her husband and three children.

The double elimination followed last week's judges' save of Matt Giraud, who would have been eliminated had the show's four judges not used their once-per-season veto power to keep him singing for at least another week.
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Giraud made the most of his opportunity with his performance of "Stayin' Alive."

The judges reserved some of their harshest words for Rounds' Tuesday performance, with Simon Cowell correctly predicting it would spell the end of the competition for the Memphis singer.

Of Desai, Cowell said, "It was a horrible version of that song." He also told the singer, "That was your worst performance by a mile." But some of the other judges disagreed.

Allison Iraheta was the week's other bottom-three finisher. The teenager is the last remaining female contender. The other finalists are Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey and Kris Allen.

"American Idol" pits aspiring singers against one another in a series of competitions that focus on a musical theme each week. It is the most-watched television show in the United States, with more than 24 million viewers per episode broadcast by the Fox network, a unit of News Corp.

Past winners of the competition such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, as well as runners-up such as Clay Aiken, have gone on to lucrative careers in music as well as in film and on Broadway.

The winner of the show's eighth season will be announced during a live finale next month.

(Writing by Chris Michaud)

Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy

Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy
Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy

Violence is an energy
Against the enemy
Violence is an energy

Bringing on the fury
The choir infantry
Revolt against the honor to obey
[Know Your Enemy lyrics on http://free-mp3-lyrics.com]

Overthrow the effigy
The vast majority
Burning down the foreman of control

Silence is the enemy
Against your urgency
So rally up the demons of your soul

Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy

Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy

The insurgency will rise
When the bloods been sacrificed
Don’t be blinded by the lies
In your eyes

Violence is an energy
From here to eternity
Violence is an energy
Silence is the enemy
So gimme gimme revolution

Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy

Do you know the enemy?
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know the enemy

Overthrow the effigy
The vast majority
Burning down the foreman of control

Silence is the enemy
Against your urgency
So rally up the demons of your soul

April 24, 2009 09:16 AM ET
Mitchell Peters, L.A.
Propelled by the runaway success of his hit single "Te Quiero," Felix Danilo Gómez, the Panamenian DJ and singer better known as Flex, was the big winner at the 2009 Billboard Latin Music awards presented by State Farm Insurance on April 23. Flex took home eight awards, including hot Latin song of the year, Latin ringmaster of the year and hot Latin song of the year, male.

Felix Danilo Gómez, the Panamenian DJ and singer better known as Flex, won eight Billboard Latin Music Awards.

Flex's multiple wins as a newcomer were all the more remarkable in a sea of established acts. He was followed in number of wins by Enrique Iglesias, who won in six categories, including hot Latin songs artist of the year and Latin album of the year for "95/08," a greatest hits compilation that included two new tracks.

Urban bachata stars Aventura took home four awards, including top Latin album of the year, duo or group, as did Mexican rockers Maná, whose wins included hot Latin song of the year, duo or group, for their remake of the Marco Antonio Solis hit "Si No Te Hubieras Ido." Jenni Rivera, Vicente Fernández, Gloria Trevi and Ivy Queen all won two awards each, with Fernández winning top Latin albums artist of the year.

Flex's success as a newcomer evoked memories of a former new group, Son By Four, who in 2001 won seven Billboard Latin awards, thanks to their hit "A Puro Dolor." This time around, Flex's song won in tropical and Latin rhythmic categories and also swept in the newly launched new artist categories, where he won in the hot Latin song of the year and top Latin album of the year.

Flex's "romantic reggaetón" style, a mellower, more pop-leaning variation on reggaetón's dembow beat, also allowed him to lead the charge in the Latin Rhythm categories, where his album "Te Quiero" won Latin rhythm album of the year, solo. Reggaetón hitmakers Wisin & Yandel won in the Latin rhythm album of the year, duo or group for "Los Extraterrestres."

The 2009 edition of the Latin Music Awards took place at the BankUnited Center in Miami and aired live on the Telemundo network. The show featured performances by Wisin & Yandel, Akon, Don Omar and Maná, as well as Ruben Blades and his legendary band, Seis del Solar, making their first televised appearance in years.

Special awards were given to Carlos Santana, who was honored with the Lifteime Achievement Award, and Daddy Yankee, who won the Spirit of Hope Award for his humanitarian work. Santana was given his award by Maná, a group with whom he's recorded and toured in the past, and with whom he played Thursday night.

Label and publishing awards were given April 22 at the Billboard Bash, with Espinoza Paz, who just last month won BMI's Latin songwriter of the year award, also taking the Billboard trophy as songwriter of the year. Fellow Mexican Armando Avila won for producer of the year while Paz's publishing company, Arpa, BMI, won publisher of the year. Warner/Chappell Music won publishing corporation of the year.

In the label of the year categories, Sony Music Latin won hot Latin songs label of the year and Tropical albums label of the year while Universal Music Latin Entertainment won top Latin albums label of the year, Latin pop, regional Mexican and Latin rhythm label of the year.

Rapper Pitbull was the winner in the newly created Latin digital download artist of the year category.

Finalists and winners to the Billboard Latin Music Awards are determined by their performance on the Billboard charts, as measured by Nielsen SoundScan and BDS during a one-year period from the issue dated February 9, 2008 issue through the January 31, 2009 issue.

Kamis, 23 April 2009
Jangan pernah bicara musik Pop Indonesia Era 80an jika tidak menyebut nama Fariz Rustam Munaf atau yang lebih dikenal dengan Fariz RM. Ya, musisi kelahiran Jakarta 5 Januari 1959 ini terkenal piawai mencipta lagu. Banyak lagu ciptaannya yang menjadi Top Ten pada tangga lagu Indonesia kala itu. Bakat bermusiknya memang sudah kelihatan sejak belia, usia 12 tahun. Maklum, Fariz merupakan anak dari Hj. Anna Reijnenberg yang juga guru les piano. Selain itu, Fariz juga belajar piano pada Sunarto Sunaryo dan juga Prof. Charlotte Sutrisno JP.

Lingkungan bermainnya juga turut mengasah bakat Faiz (panggilan Fariz RM) di lingkungan anak Menteng, seperti Debby dan Odink Nasution. Karir bermusiknya makin menanjak setelah mengikuti Lomba Cipta Lagu Remaja yang digelar radio Prambors bersama sejumlah temannya di SMA 3 Jakarta, seperti Adjie Soetama, Raidy Noor, Adie MS, dan Ikang Fawzi.

Album Fariz kedua bertitel SAKURA yang dirilis tahun 1980, langsung melejitkan karir bermusik Faiz dan menggelorakan jiwa bermusik untuk terus aktif menciptakan tembang-tembang andalan. Album Sakura terdiri dari sembilan lagu ; Sakura, Selangkah Keseberang, Belenggu (Perjalanan), Semusim, Nada Cinta, Mega Bhuana, Suasana (Yang Ada), Cermin Noda, dan Malam Kesembilan.

Setahun sebelum album ini muncul, sebetulnya Fariz sudah menelurkan satu album bertitel "Selangkah Keseberang". Perusahaan label "Pramaqua" yang menggarap album tersebut konon terlalu lama membuat kalkulasi bisnis. Mereka disebutkan, ragu dengan gaya musik yang diusung Fariz. Dan memang, musiknya beda dengan musik-musik pasaran saat itu apa bisa diterima pasar. Maklum kala itu dunia musik Indonesia sedang diserbu musik cengeng berirama mendayu-dayu. Dan diluar dugaan, Fariz bisa membuktikan bahwa musik diluar mainstream kala itu ternyata bisa juga diterima telinga pencinta musik Indonesia.

Sesuai dengan titel albumnya, tembang "Sakura" diposisikan paling awal dalam album ini. Dan betul, lagu ini melejitkan nama Fariz RM dan menjadikan album ini masterpiece, sebagai album yang layak dikoleksi oleh pecinta musik Indonesia.

Senada cinta bersemi Diantara kita
Menyandang anggunnya Peranan jiwa asmara
Terlanjut untuk terhenti Dijalan yang tekah tertempuh Semenjak dini
Sehidup semati ...

Meski beryair cinta, namun penggarapan musiknya jauh dari kesan cengeng. Irama pop yang diusungnya memang beda. Fariz memang pandai memainkan loop-loop ringan dari intonasi nada yang digarapnya. Suara yang lembut dan intonasi stabil saat membawakan nada tinggi, plus alunan suara dalam falseto-nya menjadi ciri khas Fariz.

Lagu Sakura ini juga yang membuat kepincut kakak dari bos Pertamina kala itu, Ponco Sutowo, yang kebetulan akan membuat sebuah film layar lebar. Rupanya dia tertarik dengan warna musik Fariz RM dan meminta Fariz untuk membuat sound track dari film yang akan digarapnya. Judul filmya adalah "Sakura Dalam Pelukan" dengan pemain utama seorang tokoh yang namanya saat itu lagi ngetop, yaitu Liem Swie King, jago bulutangkis yang sudah beberapa kali merebut juara All England. Namun sayang, Film tersebut tidak selaris lagunya.

Duet dengan penyanyi Anita Carolina M menjadi duet yang pas dalam tembang "Malam Kesembilan" yang digarap dengan nada yang Jazzy. Irama easylistening lagu ini yang diikuti dengan teriakan false-nya yang stabil, plus perkusi yang mengiring menjadikan musik yang "sulit" semakin enak untuk dinikmati.

Tembang "Selangkah Keseberang" digarap serius oleh Fariz. Intronya yang Jazzy, plus kombinasi elektrik piano pada intro menghasilkan musik berciri khas Fariz. Di lagu ini kita bersama-sama bisa menilai kemampuan Fariz dalam mencipta lagu-lagu yang bagus. Dan memang, dalam proses penggarapan album ini Farizlah yang memainkan alat musik seperti drum, piano, gitar, bas dan kibor.

Perjalanan bermusik Faiz memang panjang dan berliku. Beberapa kali membentuk band, seperti Transs, Symphony, Wow, GIF dan bersolo karir semakin membentuk karakter bermusiknya. Tidak hanya itu, proyek bermusiknya juga banyak, seperti membantu band Gank Pegangsaan, menjadi penata musik, membuat soundtrack, duet hingga merambah kedunia Film.

Sifat kerja kerasnya Fariz membuat suami dari Oneng Diana Riyadini, mantan peragawati asal Semarang, pernah membuatnya terjerembab dalam penggunaan Obat-obat terlarang dan sempat mendekam dalam rumah tahanan Cipinang. Lepas permasalahannya itu, sepertinya Fariz RM kini sudah lebih kalem dan bijak menyikapi hidup. Publik pecinta musik Indonesia masih dan selalu menanti karya-karya terbaru dari Fariz RM. Hayo berkarya lagi Bang Faiz... [lysthano/foto:akurama record]

Artist / Band	Fariz RM
Judul Album	Sakura
Label	Akurama
Rating

Art Brut will be releasing its third studio album, Art Brut vs Satan (COOKCD492) on Monday 20th April, which will be preceded by a new single, Alcoholics Unanimous on Monday 6th April. Available on CD and as a digital download, the single features an extra track “Just Desserts”. There will also be a limited edition two track 7” single which will feature a different b-side – “Positively 5th St”.

Recorded over twelve days in December 2008, and produced by Black Francis, Art Brut vs Satan is the record Brut-o-philes have been waiting for since debut single ‘Formed A Band’ illuminated the musical universe back in 2004. From ‘Passengers’, a neat inversion of Iggy Pop’s ode to isolation, to the deeply personal ‘DC Comics And Chocolate Milk’ (“From delivering post to serving beer/I’ve never had much of a career”), it’s a rummage through the diaries of British pop’s sharpest observationist.

The pivotal ‘Demons Out!’, meanwhile, casts singer Argos as an indie Witchfinder General on the trail of those who would corrupt music to their own ends, complete with the lyric: “This is Art Brut versus Satan/The record buying public, we hate them!” But the surprise comes with a final ‘Mysterious Bruises’, a seven minute excursion into the agit-funk of ’77 era Talking Heads complete with the Pullitzer-prize worthy couplet: “I can’t remember anything I’ve done/I fought the floor and the floor won!” it’s a sobering account of the morning after the night before which seems destined to fill dance floors from Paris to Pasadena.

Art Brut vs Satan will be available on CD, as a digital download and as an exclusive iTunes bundle, which will include a bonus track, “Moved To LA”.

Full track listing as follows:

1. Alcoholics Unanimous
2. DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake
3. The Passenger
4. Am I Normal?
5. What A Rush
6. Demons Out!
7. Slap Dash For No Cash
8. The Replacements
9. Twist and Shout
10. Summer Job
11. Mysterious Bruises
12. Moved To LA (iTunes only)

Art Brut will be doing a 10 date UK tour in April and May.

Full dates below:

Sun 26th April POOLE, Mr Kyps £10.00 BO: 01202 748 945
Mon 27th April MANCHESTER, Academy 3 £9.50 BO: 0161 832 1111
Tue 28th April BIRMINGHAM, 02 Academy £9.50 BO: 0844 477 2000
Wed 29th April NEWCASTLE, Other Rooms £9.00 BO: 0191 261 9755
Fri 1st May LEEDS, Cockpit £10.00 BO: 0113 245 5570
Sat 2nd May GLASGOW, Stereo £8.50 BO: 0844 847 2487
Mon 4th May NOTTINGHAM, Rescue Rooms £10.00 BO: 0871 310 0000
Tue 5th May BRISTOL, Thekla £10.00 BO: 0870 444 4400
Wed 6th May BRIGHTON, Concorde 2 £9.00 BO: 01273 637 311
Thu 7th May LONDON, Electric Ballroom £11.00 BO: 020 7403 3331



Click here for the Art Brut biography in full and below for the video.