Associated Press Mar 16, 08 2:17 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Move over indie-rock—Hip-hop got a big bump at South by Southwest this year. Houston's emerging hip-hop scene helped spread word within the rap community, the AP reports, and some 150 acts took the stage this year. "Honestly I didn't know too much about this," says Del the Funky Homosapien, but "people would say, 'If you don't go, you trippin'!'"
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Emerging acts jostle with old timers for exposure
Buffalo News Mar 15, 08 5:31 PM CDT
(Newser)
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At least one "buzz band" has emerged in South by Southwest, a music festival that is increasingly dominated by big-name artists: world-beat pop quartet Vampire Weekend. Still hot from a Saturday Night Live appearance last weekend, the Columbia University band has wowed Austin with its clean, poppy sound, the Buffalo News reports.
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She'll probably join pal Stevie Nicks sometime next year
Spinner Mar 14, 08 10:01 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Fleetwood Mac may soon get a new face and a new voice: Sheryl Crow. "We definitely have plans for collaborating in the future, and we'll see what happens," the singer told Spinner.com. "I think that's going to be next year." She would join her friend Stevie Nicks and replace Christine McVie, who gave up touring long ago. The band hasn't hit the road since 2004.
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Lawyer's $445 tax mistake puts Franklin's Detroit pad at risk
TMZ Mar 13, 08 2:05 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Aretha Franklin’s mansion is in foreclosure after the Queen of Soul flubbed her taxes, TMZ.com reports. Franklin owes $19,192 in back taxes, but she says she’ll pay before the March 31 deadline. The singer faults her lawyer for a 2005 mistake over $445 in taxes and late fees that pushed the Detroit home, valued at $712,000 into foreclosure.
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Rolling Stone mugs for Louis Vuitton
Los Angeles Times Mar 6, 08 11:37 AM CST
(Newser)
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Keith Richards is featured in a new Louis Vuitton ad, accessorized as usual with headscarf and guitar—but wearing no LV, writes Elizabeth Snead in the Los Angeles Times . The Rolling Stone isn’t identified in the pic, as, a rep notes, “Keith Richards needs absolutely no introduction." But the aging rocker hasn’t sold out: He’s donating his pay to Al Gore’s Climate Project.
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Brilliant but erratic tenor succumbed to injuries from 2004 attack
Los Angeles Times Mar 4, 08 9:53 AM CST
(Newser)
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Giuseppe di Stefano, the tenor whose short but brilliant career made him an operatic legend, died yesterday at his home near Milan. He was 86. His widow told reporters his death resulted from head injuries dating to 2004, when robbers in Kenya left him temporarily comatose. Di Stefano's superb voice earned comparisons to Enrico Caruso, but his temperament and personal conduct cut short his career, the LA Times reports.
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Slicethepie, Sellaband get visitors to invest in favorite bands
Wired Mar 3, 08 12:52 PM CST
(Newser)
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While the recording industry continues to lose profits, two online companies are reinventing the recorded music business model—and raking in the cash. Europe's SellaBand and Slicethepie are getting fans to finance their favorite indie rock up-and-comers. Amazon UK wants in, but online gambling legislation in the US makes it harder to apply the paradigm here, Wired reports.
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OPINION
Queen of 'retro soul' not just cribbing from the past, says Frere-Jones
New Yorker Mar 2, 08 5:09 AM CST
(Newser)
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It's tempting to chalk up the popularity of singer Amy Winehouse to her headline-grabbing bent for self-destruction, writes Sasha Frere-Jones in the New Yorker . But that would be a mistake. He takes a closer look at Back to Black , with its "perfect" single "Rehab," and finds much to treasure. What might initially come off as mere imitation of classic soul and R&B is actually a novel evolution, he argues.
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Gun that killed JFK assassin, Superman suit among items slated for Vegas auction
Reuters Mar 2, 08 4:45 AM CST
(Newser)
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Indiana Jones' whip. The gun that killed JFK's assassin. Madonna's Like a Virgin wedding dress. All are up for grabs at a massive memorabilia auction scheduled for March 15-16 in Las Vegas, Reuters reports. Billed as the best pop-culture collection ever assembled, the 850-lot treasure trove could fetch more than $5 million, says the president of the auction house.
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Miss the days of
LL Cool J? Give this Chicago duo a listen
Chicago Magazine Feb 27, 08 3:54 PM CST
(Newser)
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Hip-hop sensation the Cool Kids might come off as too, ahem, cool for school, catapulting from an online hit to Pitchfork Music Festival performer and MIA's fall tour opener—without ever releasing an album. But Chicago Magazine paints Antoine Reed, 20, and Evan Ingersoll, 23, as two inexperienced Chicagolanders whose winning formula relies on staying simple and accessible.
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Magazine gives
2.5 stars to an album
it never heard
San Francisco Chronicle Feb 27, 08 2:42 PM CST
(Newser)
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Pick a number, any number: Maxim 's 2.5-star rating—out of 5—for the Black Crowes' latest album was little more than a guess, the magazine admitted yesterday. No advanced copies were released, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, but that didn't stop Maxim's critic from decreeing in the March issue that Warpaint "hasn't left Chris Robinson and the gang much room for growth."
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New York orchestra wins ovation after landmark performance
AFP Feb 26, 08 7:16 AM CST
(Newser)
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The New York Philharmonic received a huge ovation in Pyongyang tonight after a concert that marked the first thaw in cultural relations between the US and North Korea in 50 years. The performance—which included the countries' national anthems, a Korean folk song, and works by Gershwin, Dvorak, Wagner, and Leonard Bernstein—was broadcast on state media and around the world, reports AFP.
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