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Fun. Wanted Rihanna for “We Are Young”
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Collaborations, Gossip, Alternative, Pop, New Releases,
Fun. originally wanted Rihanna to appear on 'We Are Young'.
The group's biggest hit - for which they won Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards last Sunday - features Janelle Monae, but they admit they initially thought Rihanna's vocals would work better on the track.
"They said, 'Who can we get? And I said, 'let's get Rihanna.' We were shooting for the stars on everything and she was kind of a muse. But everything works out for a reason and Janelle Monae worked out to be the perfect choice. She brought the right element of a great soulful flavour that we wanted for the album," producer Jeff Bhasker told MTV.
Although Fun. were an almost unknown act at that time, they were dreaming of pop stardom and reportedly had pictures of Rihanna on their studio wall. Jeff said the 'Diamonds' singer had heard the track, but never got around to recording vocals for it. "Someone tried to reach out and I know she heard the song and liked it. But I think some wires just got crossed," he added.
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Radiohead to Head Back to the Studio
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Upcoming Releases, Alternative, Rock,
Radiohead are preparing to record a new album. The "Lotus Flower" band will regroup at the end of the summer to start work on their first new tracks since 2011.
"We're taking some time out whilst people are doing some other stuff, doing their own things, and the plan is to get back together again [at the] end of the summer," bass player Colin Greenwood told BBC Radio 6 Music.
Radiohead - Colin, brother Johnny Greenwood, Thom Yorke, Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien - released their eighth album, The King Of Limbs, in 2011 and played a world tour last year. The band are currently taking a break while the individual members work on different projects.
Perhaps the band will take a more commercial direction with their next album, as Thom has previously admitted The King of Limbs divided their fanbase: "I can see why it's alienated people. I didn't realize it was on its own planet. It was amazing just to put the record out like that. But then it didn't feel like it really existed. But that was the consequence of what we chose to do. You can either get upset about it, or say, 'well, that's not good enough.'"
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Jack White Set for the Grammys
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Awards, Performances, Alternative, Blues, Pop, Rock,
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Jack White, Carrie Underwood and Ed Sheeran have been confirmed to perform at the Grammy Awards.
Nine time award winner Jack will take to the stage at the 55th annual event - held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 10 - as will Ed, who is teaming up for a special duet with Elton John. "Buzzing to announce I am going to be performing live on @TheGRAMMYs ... Cannot wait! (sic)" Ed wrote on Twitter.
Ed's track "The A Team" is competing for "Song Of The Year," while Jack's Blunderbuss album is nominated for the Best Rock Album and Album of the Year, while "Freedom at 21" receives the nod for Best Rock Song.
Jack recently said he believes his debut solo has been such a success because he was tough with himself the whole way through recording: "I have an obsession with being hard on myself because I really need to feel proud of what I do. If I look back and see that I got the best engineers, that someone mixed the record for me, that it was just a bunch of people playing the parts, I couldn't live with throwing my name on top of it."
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Rihanna, Taylor Swift to Perform at Grammys
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Awards, Performances, Alternative, Blues, Country, Folk, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, R&B / Soul, Rock, Soundtracks, New Releases,
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Mumford & Sons, Rihanna and Taylor Swift are among the first performers confirmed for the 2013 Grammy Awards. Fun. and The Black Keys will also hit the stage at the biggest night in American music, which takes place on February 10.
All of the performers are nominated at the 55th annual music industry awards, with Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys and Fun. leading the pack with six nods apiece, along with Jay-Z, Kanye West and Frank Ocean.
Fun. are nominated in categories including Album of the Year for their debut, Some Nights, Record of the Year and Song of the Year for the Janelle Monae-featuring hit "We Are Young," and Best New Artist.
The Black Keys' seventh album El Camino is up for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album, while single "Lonely Boy" is nominated for Record of the Year. Mumford & Sons' chart-topping album Babel will also compete for Album of the Year.
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Vampire Weekend Promise a “Darker” Third Album
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Upcoming Releases, Alternative, Rock,
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Vampire Weekend's new album will be "darker and a bit spookier."
The indie rockers are busy working on the follow-up to 2010's Contra, and have opted for a more old-fashioned sound with eerie lyrics and haunting undertones.
"Lyrically it's a bit darker, a bit spookier at times. It definitely feels more nocturnal than anything we've done before. Musically there's a lot of organic tones. There's some old sounds that have been around forever, like the sounds that bands in America started with. [It goes] back to the roots of music being recorded or being played in a room by a band, " explained Rostam Batmanglij.
The "Horchata" hitmakers ignored pressure to rush release their album last year and are taking their time to craft their new opus, which they believe needs to maintain the same level of "excellence" fans have come to expect.
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Gotye Has Biggest Selling Song of 2012
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, The Charts, Alternative, Rock,
Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" was the biggest selling song of 2012 in the US. The Belgian-Australian singer's track sold 6.8 million copies, beating Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," which was second, with 6.4 million sales.
"Somebody That I Used to Know (Featuring Kimbra)" became a phenomena in 2012, catapulting the previously unknown artist to the spotlight. The song has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and reached number one in more than 23 national charts, becoming the fourth most downloaded track of all time.
Speaking of the track, Gotye - real name Wouter De Backer - said he doesn't mind if it's his only successful single: "I would take a sort of perverse pleasure if a certain part of the public think of me as a one-hit-wonder. I'd be in some good company."
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Beck Wants Jack White to Cover His Song
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Alternative, Blues, Covers, New Releases,
Beck wants to hear Jack White perform one of the tracks from his Song Reader album. The "Devil's Haircut" musician's latest album is only available as sheet music, as he wants to hear other people's interpretations of his tracks before he releases any recordings of his own, and he's particularly interested to hear Jacks' take on the track "I'm Down."
"Initially, I'm curious to hear what other people do with the songs. I don't want to throw my hat in until later. I sent the songs to Jack White and he was very encouraging. He liked 'I'm Down,'" Beck said.
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Paul McCartney’s Nirvana Reunion at Sandy Concert
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Concerts / Tours, Reunions, Alternative, Rock,
Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi performed at the 12.12.12 concert in New York last night. The Beatles guitarist fronted a Nirvana reunion as he brought surviving members, drummer Dave Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic and touring guitarist Pat Smear - who were with singer Kurt Cobain until his suicide in 1994 - on stage halfway through his set at Madison Square Garden.
Before introducing the group at the Concert for Sandy Relief - which raised money for people in the Caribbean and US who were struck by Hurricane Sandy in October - he said, "The penny finally dropped that I was in the middle of a Nirvana reunion."
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The Lumineers Humbled by Grammy Nods
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Awards, Alternative, Folk, Rock, New Releases,
The Lumineers are humbled by their two Grammy nominations. The "Ho Hey" group received a nod for Best New Artist and their self titled debut was named in the Best Americana Album category when the awards shortlist was announced on Wednesday, and they are over the moon to be recognized after all their hard work.
"We're humbled by all of this. And if these nominations bring more people to our music, and to this record, then we're a damn lucky band," said guitarist and singer Wesley Schultz.
The group - completed by Jeremiah Fraites and Neyla Pekarek - have previously talked of their eclectic set of influences, claiming their sound is a mix of everything from classical composer Beethoven to notoriously bad mouthed 80s rockers Guns N' Roses. Drummer Jeremiah told BANG Showbiz, "The first thing I got into was Beethoven. I remember getting one of those CDs that was all piano stuff by Beethoven and that really influenced me a lot, I love classical music. Then the next band I got into was Guns N' Roses. I don't really know how that transition took place, but I think I really grew up listening to lots of different types of genres. I love cinematic music and anything strange and weird. Wesley and I write all the music and he grew up on stuff that his father liked such as Talking Heads and Bruce Springsteen. I think there's a blend we bring to the table, where we don't have the same exact influences, but write well together."
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2013 Grammy Nominations Announced
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Awards, Alternative, Blues, Country, Electronic, Folk, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, R&B / Soul, Rock, New Releases,
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Kanye West, Mumford & Sons and Jay-Z have landed six nominations each for the Grammy Awards 2013.
The hip-hop artists and folk-rockers were joined by Frank Ocean and The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach in gaining the most nods when the shortlist was announced in Nashville, Tennessee, last night. Indie group fun. also boasted an impressive haul, scoring nominations in the four major categories; Record of the Year and Song of the Year for their single "We Are Young feat. Janelle Monae," Album of the Year for their debut Some Nights, and Best New Artist.
Speaking after they had performed at the nominations, fun. singer Nate Ruess said, "Tonight, all I wanted to do was get up and really give it our all receiving the nomination is amazing and a culmination of hard work the three of us have put into this band." fun. share three of their nominations with Frank, whose "Channel Orange" is up for Album of the Year, his single "Thinkin' Bout You" is up for Record of the Year, and who also has a nomination in the Best New Artist category.
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