Joni Wows With Shine

Increased likelihood of smoking pot, drinking: Study

(NEWSER) - Just like your parents always feared, listening to loud music may actually be bad for you. A new study finds that teens and young adults who use ear buds to listen to music at the "risky" level of 89 dBA for at least an hour each day were nearly twice as likely as non-listeners to smoke pot. In addition, those who hang out at concerts or dance clubs are almost six times as likely to binge drink as those who stay home, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

Calls song 'teachable moment' for company

(NEWSER) - A California Starbucks worker was sent packing after posting a video rant about his job—in song form. Christopher Cristwell took his guitar to YouTube to air his venti-sized frustrations; the clip was picked up by a Starbucks blog and he lost his job, the Merced Sun-Star reports. Among the lyrical highlights: “Two Frappucinos? They take forever to make/ You know there’s about a pound of fat in your RF coffee cake.” More»

This year has been a bummer, but the music's good

(NEWSER) - As the first half of 2010 draws to a close, James Montgomery lists his 10 favorite albums of the year—so far—for MTV :

• Kate Nash: “My Best Friend Is You represents Kate Nash at her most scattershot, squeaky and downright smart,” he writes. She’s made “an album that's rough, sprawling and unafraid to get plain weird.”
• Yeasayer: Odd Blood is “perhaps the most fittingly titled album in recent memory, a wavy, dreamy listen, full of supple, electronic fields that undulate and dip, creating precipitous peaks and delving canyons. Pop music for the 22nd century and beyond.”

Singer may have finally ended decades-long mystery

(NEWSER) - For 38 years, jilted lovers everywhere have been singing along to “You’re So Vain” and wondering exactly who is so vain—and they may finally have an answer. Speculation has long centered on Carly Simon’s famous exes, including Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens, or James Taylor. But the song, as it turns out, isn’t about a former paramour—or even about a straight guy. The subject is openly gay record producer David Geffen. More»

Singer channels tumultuous year into great music

(NEWSER) - Rihanna's been through a lot since she released her last album, and the excellent Rated R is all the better for it, writes Greg Kot. After the much-publicized Chris Brown incident, her music has become darker and more serious than the airy pop of "Umbrella" and "SOS." Most of the tracks feel deeply personal, Kot writes, suggesting that "she had a much greater voice in this album than any of her previous efforts, recorded when she was a teenager." More»