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Merce Cunningham, Radiohead Fan, Passes Away

Posted 7/27/09 2:51 pm EST by in Music


Yesterday saw the passing of Merce Cunningham, a legendary New York-based choreographer who redefined modernist dance in this country and was still very active in the dance community, even at age 90. In his later years, Cunningham collaborated with a number of rock bands to create live performances that blended together exploratory music with moody, sensual dance numbers. In this decade, he reached out to the likes of Sonic Youth, Sigur Ros and Radiohead, for whom he had a particular affinity. When he was working with the band on a 2003 project called "Split Sides," he told a reporter, "There might be people coming to the theater who haven’t heard of Merce Cunningham, but not very many who don't know Radiohead, as far as I can tell. They are like the Beatles."

Cunningham got along with exploratory rock bands because they both pushed the boundaries of their respective fields. As a tribute, here is Radiohead's "House of Cards," which pushed the visual envelope in the same way Cunningham expanded the horizons of movement and dance.

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Is 'Alice In Wonderland' The Most Anticipated Film? The Oh Snap! Poll

Posted 7/27/09 2:03 pm EST by in Movies, Poll


Now that the 2009 version of the San Diego Comic-Con has wrapped, it's time to sort out what everybody is talking about. Obviously, the upcoming release of "New Moon" got everybody buzzing. The new details, photos and rumors about "Iron Man 2" were a hot topic. Tim Burton's upcoming "Alice in Wonderland" (starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter) got an incredible reaction, as did the forthcoming Seth Rogen-powered "The Green Hornet." Only "New Moon" will see a release in 2009, but that doesn't mean that people won't be whispering about them for months.

Since buzz is king, we wanted to know which of those four films won the buzz wars from this weekend's Comic-Con. So we hit the streets to talk to the folks waiting to get into the audience of "It's On with Alexa Chung" and asked them: Which film — "New Moon," "Alice in Wonderland," "The Green Hornet" or "Iron Man 2" — is the one you are most looking forward to seeing?

The (not even remotely scientific) numbers reveal a surprising result: 70 percent of people are most excited for Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," whose trailer recently premiered and whose production stills have inspired a great deal of debate and ranting on the Internet. Coming in a distant second place was "New Moon" with 15 percent of the vote, followed by "Iron Man 2" with eight percent and "The Green Hornet" with seven percent. While most of the respondents cited the leading man (either Depp or Robert Pattinson) as the primary reason for wanting to see the film, a surprising number of people said that director Burton was a main contributor to their excitement about "Alice in Wonderland."

What do you think: Are you most looking forward to "Alice in Wonderland," or does "New Moon" still take up all your anticipation energy? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!

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Band You Should Know: Bad Veins

Posted 7/27/09 1:35 pm EST by in Music


Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can catch a band at the golden halo moment before they march off to bigger and better things. Then, years later, you can tell a funny story about how you knew them back then. I can't promise that Bad Veins are one of those bands, but it feels like they think they are, and their free hometown record release party on Friday night (July 24) definitely felt like a coming out party.

Here's the thing: Yes, Bad Veins are from my hometown and I'm always eager to spread some love for any bands making righteous noise around these parts (check out Wussy, Moth, Cari Clara and Foxy Shazam). But there's more to it than that.

The duo of human piston drummer Sebastien Schultz, 26, and laconic singer/guitarist/keyboardist Ben Davis, 29, have gotten where they are in just a few shorts years with that rare combination of business savvy and artistic vision. They never handed out demos, recorded their just-released debut before getting signed to Silverlake, California indie darling Dangerbird Records (Silversun Pickups, Sea Wolf, Eulogies) and have already landed their music on the MTV Movie Awards and "The City" way before most of the world had heard of them.

Always buzzing with nervous energy, Schultz admitted before the show that the Veins want their music everywhere (movies, TV, radio), even as he marveled at how far they've come in such a short time. Read More...

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Will Queen Latifah Make A Triumphant Return To Rap?

Posted 7/27/09 1:13 pm EST by in Music


Next month, Queen Latifah will do something she hasn't done in over a decade: She'll release a hip-hop album. Though she's put out music since 1998's Order in the Court, she's stuck to ballads and jazz standards (coinciding with her reinvention in the film version of "Chicago" in 2002). In fact, considering that Order in the Court vanished from the marketplace without much fuss, there is an entirely generation of fans who know Latifah only as a jazz singer, actress and CoverGirl spokesperson.

But Queen Latifah is a vital character in hip-hop, asserting herself as a part of the first wave of game-changing female MCs. Along with MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa and Roxanne Shanté, Latifah wasn't just a gimmick — she was a real MC who rapped about female issues and who could also battle with the high-powered guys of the era. All Hail the Queen and Black Reign are both classics, but how will the new record — titled Persona — stack up? To figure it out, we look to people who have left hip-hop only to come back around again.
Read More...

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50 Cent's 'Entourage' Cameo: A Great Performance

Posted 7/27/09 12:26 pm EST by in Music, Television


No matter what your opinion is of his rapping or acting ability, nobody can deny that 50 Cent is one of the finest marketing minds in music. Just think about the amount of buzz he's managed to maintain for his upcoming album Before I Self Destruct, which has had several release dates and no official singles, but remains one of the most hotly-anticipated albums of the fall. He's kept the buzz up a number of ways, most notably the release of several mixtapes, guest appearances and an open sales challenge to Jay-Z (whose The Blueprint 3 also drops in September). Last night's stop on the 50 Cent marketing tour was on HBO's "Entourage" (which is streaming in its entirety on his Web site). 50 made a cameo as himself (or at least as a gentleman named Curtis) on the show, having an exchange with Turtle while waiting at a stop light. Turtle was driving in a car given to him by Vince for his birthday, and 50 poked fun at him for it ("Driving around in Daddy's car?" he said with a smirk). It was a brief but memorable cameo — in reality, not unlike a good guest verse on another rapper's song.

This is an awesome plan for 50, and he should really consider going on a round of cameos for maximum exposure. Wouldn't it be great to have him guest as a rival ad executive on "Mad Men"? What about as a party host on "Royal Pains"? Will his cameo as a patient on "House" be far behind? Or even better, he should just play himself on shows where it won't make any sense — the vampires on "True Blood" must be big fans of "In Da Club," right?

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John Mayer Twitters Genius 'Ninth Year' Theory

Posted 7/27/09 11:26 am EST by in Music


Over the weekend, everyone's favorite Twitter aficionado John Mayer made an observation that lead to an interesting exchange via the social networking site. Yesterday, the guitar giant tweeted, "Listening to the hits channel on Sirius. I will reserve criticism but say that every ninth year of a decade really brings the junk." He went on to point out that the charts in 1979, '89 and '99 are all relatively low-quality, and in the meantime, the "2" years ('82, '92 and 2002) all seem to produce greatness. Mayer uses the example of Warrant to throw 1989 under the bus, which is a brilliant strategy considering that their album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich was not only gigantic but also represented the predominant trend of the era (that being hair metal). But is it a fair assessment of the decade? And how do those other years measure up?

Mayer is a little unfair to 1979, as the top singles from that year were a mix of disco tracks, one-hit wonders and the first big influences of punk and New Wave. Blondie's "Heart of Glass" bridged the gap between dance music and their brand of icy rock, while the Knack's "My Sharona" was a brief hit that ended up being far more influential than anybody could have imagined. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, so it's possible that in the present tense those songs were utterly unacceptable. But it ended up being okay. There were plenty of duds (Chic's "Good Times," Bee Gees' "Love You Inside Out"), but it was also the year that saw Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" can't be all bad.

1989 was more questionable. Read More...

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Billy Corgan Begins World Domination: Wake-Up Video

Posted 7/27/09 9:00 am EST by in Music, Wake-Up Video


When you think about the biggest bands of the early '90s alt-rock boom, most of them come from the Seattle grunge scene (most notably Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden). But only Pearl Jam is still standing, and even they have spent over a decade conscientiously attempting to become a lower-profile group. So who is the only titan still standing? A little outfit from Chicago called Smashing Pumpkins. Some question whether or not the band touring and recording as Smashing Pumpkins is still actually a band (only frontman Billy Corgan remains), it was really always a one-man band anyway. In fact, it's assumed that Corgan played just about all the instruments on the group's breakout smash Siamese Dream, which was released on this day in 1993.

Though it's considered an alt-rock classic and one of the best albums of the '90s, Siamese Dream is a bizarre album to have captured the hearts and minds of indie-minded types. Though it certainly borrows heavily from the fuzzy moods of groups like the Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, the most direct influence is probably the debut album from Boston (compare "More Than a Feeling" with "Rocket"). The album spawned four massive singles, including the dark "Disarm," the effervescent "Today" and the six-string bulldozer that is "Cherub Rock." Trouble and controversy seemed to follow the Pumpkins since their colossal breakthrough: The late '90s were colored by drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's drug problems, forays into sleepy New Wave (Adore) and in-fighting that has ultimately lead to the departure of the rest of the band members. Corgan continues to produce new, interesting music but has yet to hit the highs of 16 years ago, when the video for "Cherub Rock" ruled MTV with its psychedelic imagery.

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Drake Joins Lil Wayne For America's Most Wanted Rehearsals

Posted 7/27/09 2:19 am EST by in Behind The Scenes, Concerts, Music


By Rahman Dukes

The MTV News crew made our way to the Toyota Center to catch up with the million-dollar wunderkind Drake to chop it up on his first major tour alongside his Young Money captain Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and Soulja Boy.

After sitting through Weezy's performance, rap's most-wanted man Drake finally arrived at the venue. Dressed in a dark colored hoodie and shades, Drake stood at the center of the empty venue staring at his boy Wayne tearing it down. One thing I noticed: Drizzy was walking freely without a cane — pretty good for a cat with a torn ACL. The way he was moving about, you'd never know he was injured.

You'll get much more on the entire rehearsals from my man S Dot when he files the full report later this evening. Drake pretty much consolidated his set into Wayne's, but I can tell you fans will not be disappointed. Drake and Nicki Minaj were in full form, performing a string of their individual hits.

Following his performance of "Best I Ever Had," we spoke with Drake for a few. He told us that despite his injury he was very excited to witness the tour. Shortly after our interview Drake went back to the stage for the Young Money performance "Every Girl."

The launch of "Americas Most Wanted" tour goes down on Monday, and your boys at MTV will provide you will complete access. Fasten your seat belts: This is sure to be one for the record books.

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Lil Wayne Practices On The Eve Of His Tour

Posted 7/26/09 8:34 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Concerts, Music


They had New Kids on the Block earlier this summer and Toby Keith and the Dave Matthews Band in a couple of months, but on Monday night (July 27), Lil Wayne will be the star attraction at the Toyota Pavilion in Scranton, PA (as the sign on the photo reads).

But on Sunday night, as the MTV News crew came to the venue, we received one surprising rule: "Look out for the snakes, dog!" advised the head of security on the "Young Money Presents: The America's Most Wanted Music Festival." Apparently some reptiles had slithered in the outdoor backstage area at the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain.

Scranton is home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (MLB's Bronx Bombers Triple A team) and not exactly the hip-hop capital of the globe, but one of the biggest MCs on the planet has been in town all week. Yes, Lil Wayne, Weezy F. Baby himself has been in Scranton all week rehearsing for his new tour with Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy, Jeremih and Drake.

The Toyota Pavilion is said to hold around 16,000 people — 6,000 seats under a canopy-like top (which also covers the stage) and 10,000 on the lawn that runs up a hill.

When MTV showed up earlier this afternoon, Weezy wasn't due to arrive until about 8:30 p.m., while Drake was said to be coming 30 minutes after that. The always sexy Nicki Minaj was already backstage getting ready to rehearse and Jeezy and Soulja Boy weren't due to rehearse their sets until Monday morning.

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'Alice In Wonderland,' Adam Yauch, Kristen Stewart And Blink-182: This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 7/24/09 6:16 pm EST by in Deep Cuts, Music


The clock on the wall says it's just about time to punch out here in the Newsroom, but that doesn't mean we don't have time to reflect on everything we learned this week, as there was much education flying around the office.

» We learned that at least one "Twilight" star has heard "Screaming at a Wall."

» We learned that sometimes Cake is just as good as cake.

» We learned that at least one member of the MTV News staff owns a copy of the soundtrack to "A Life Less Ordinary."

» We learned that John Mayer's lyrics often blend together with his tweets.
Read More...

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