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Modest Mouse And Big Boi's Team Up Has Us Thinking

Posted 4/29/11 2:42 pm EST by in Music


Big BoiBy Zachary Swickey
We’ve been longing for a new Modest Mouse record for a while now, and it appears our cries have been answered through Twitter (truly the the hotspot for collaboration reveals these days.) Sir Lucious Left Foot himself — aka Big Boi of OutKast — is keeping this fad alive by tweeting about his trip to the studio of the indie icons:

"Been camped out in the Lab with Modest Mouse all week, workin on the new mouse LP, coolest cats ever. Long Live the Funk."

Long live the funk, indeed! That’s all the evidence we have for now (not even a Twitpic, Daddy Fat Sax?!?), but any of sign of a new Modest Mouse record is well-received by us. And while this collaboration may sound pretty out there to some music fans, rap/rock collabos of the WTF-nature are abundant in years past. Here’s four that might have you raising your eyebrows:

"Judgment Night: Official Soundtrack"
Helping Emilio Estevez establish some street cred, this ’93 soundtrack is chock full of — what were considered at the time — to be positively groundbreaking collaborations. Cypress Hill team up on two tracks with Sonic Youth and Pearl Jam. Ice-T's epically awesome Body County join forces with Satan's favorite minions, Slayer. Helmet get together with House of Pain, Mudhoney get down with Sir Mix-A-Lot, Living Colour spazz out with Run-D.M.C. ... nearly 20 years later, this album still rules.

Chef Aid: The 'South Park' Album
A 1998 "South Park" episode featuring a music benefit for character Chef (voiced by the late Isaac Hayes) spun off a soundtrack of its own. "Nowhere to Run" features electronic outfit the Crystal Method providing the music and DMX, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Ozzy Osbourne providing the growl. "Will They Die 4 You" features the unlikely tandem of System of a Down and Diddy (not to mention Mase and Lil' Kim). Oh, and somewhat fittingly, the whole thing was produced by Rick Rubin.

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'American Idol' Predictions Results: Casey Abrams Goes Growling Into The Void

Posted 4/29/11 11:32 am EST by in American Idol


Unlike the judges on "American Idol," I'm not going to mince words here: good riddance, Casey Abrams.

Yeah, the bearded lothario showed off some impressive musical skills during his improbably long run on the show. But in typical "Idol" fashion, we were expected to not pay attention to the fact that his vocals were frequently terrible and, frankly, sometimes just kind of disturbing, creepy and awful. It's a singing competition, right? Not a tryout for the "Wolfman" reboot?

I'm sure he's a nice fella (though his forced kisses on audience members as he made his way into the "Idol" netherworld were totally disconcerting), but he proved week in and out that he just wasn't right for this competition. "American Idol" isn't looking for the next quirky jazz star who will sell a "respectable" 100,000 copies.
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Hey Modest Mouse, Rage Against The Machine: Get Back In The Studio!

Posted 4/28/11 3:02 pm EST by in Music


By Jett Wells
Chances are, if your favorite band is AWOL because of hiatus, retirement, boredom, or buzzkill bickering, you don't care about them resolving their issues as much as you just want more music. Let’s be honest; we don’t have to be reasonable when it comes to this subject. Recently, news broke that Swedish duo noir the Knife were in the studio working on their new album, an announcement that had to give fans of the group reason to rejoice. So why stop there? There are plenty of acts that need to put down the tequila smoothies, make a cup of coffee and hit the studio again, because they’ve all been gone too long. Here's a look at some of them. And as for you, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, we'll talk about this so-called "retirement" another time.

Passion Pit
Sure, they’re still considered a "new" band, but in the two years since their breakout Manners LP, 2009's "It band" has done zilch. And while we'll admit they've earned the right to sit around some more, there's no time like the present to form a legacy. That is unless they suffer from the recurrent sophomore slump.

Rage Against the Machine
Arguably one of the most innovative and exciting bands to come out of 1990s, Rage Against the Machine ended at the top of their game a decade ago. Of course, even their most fervent of fans will have to admit everything that happened in the 2000s — Zack de la Rocha's departure, Audioslave, etc — has been a bit of a bummer. Recently, there have been rumblings of a new album, which is definitely a good thing ... because these days, we need Rage's, well, rage more than ever.

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'American Idol' Elimination Predictions: Jacob Is Headed Back To Church

Posted 4/28/11 12:06 pm EST by in American Idol


Say what you will about Jacob Lusk's colorful ensembles on Wednesday night's Carole King-themed "American Idol" performance episode. But all the purple bow ties and electric-blue vests in the world cannot distract this viewer from a simple fact: It's time for the guy to go.

Though I've been in a (very vocal) minority for weeks about Jacob, telling anyone who will listen that his grating personality, screechy falsetto, preening stage presence and complete lack of commercial prospects are reason enough to get rid of him, it seems my fellow "Idol" experts have finally come around and seen the light.

For one of the first times all season, all four prognosticators in this column agree: Jacob is headed for the "Idol" phantom zone.

"There was an audible 'boo' after Jacob survived last week, so I imagine he had the most to prove last night, and while the judges loved the growling 'character' he debuted on 'Oh No Not My Baby,' I think it will get him sent home," opined MTV News "Idol Party Live" host Jim Cantiello. "Not to mention that the South was being overcome with storms and tornados, so the gospel loving community supporting their hometown hero may have had more pressing things on their mind. (Jennifer Hudson got booted when a huge storm hit her Chicago hometown.)??"
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'American Idol' Recap: But Will We Love James Durbin Tomorrow?

Posted 4/28/11 9:15 am EST by in American Idol


Remember when "American Idol" producers promised non-restrictive, decade-based theme weeks for Season 10?

Well, Wednesday night the top six sang from the Carole King songbook!

As a way to fill 90 minutes an added bonus, the top six paired off for duets in which the girls sounded flawless and the boys sounded like constipated donkeys. But OMG, the boys are so cute! Brb, power-texting.

Between Constantine, Carole King('s daughter) and Brad Garrett, there were famous faces at every turn in the "Idol" crowd. But I can't go another second without shouting out Penny Marshall in the front row, dressed like Ozzy Osbourne imitating Lady Gaga's "Fame" album cover. Marshall was placed right behind Randy, who was obviously paying homage to Laverne's initial-laden bowling shirt. (That Randy Jackson mensch loves his classic sitcoms.)

Before I go on a rant about showmances, let me quickly remind you to check out "Idol Party Live" at noon ET, streaming right here in this very blog. In addition to hanging with Yahoo's "Idol" watcher Lyndsey Parker and MTV News rock editor James Montgomery, I scored a delightful exclusive chat with Kris Allen and "Glee" star Matthew Morrison that we'll be rolling back. It's bro-tacular.

Now on to the performances!
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'American Idol' Castoff Stefano Langone Answers MTV News' 10 Questions

Posted 4/27/11 6:42 pm EST by in MTV News, Music, Television


By Alex Mohr, with reporting by Jim Cantiello

Stefano Langone sang his heart out to be a finalist on "American Idol"; however, number seven did not prove to be so lucky for him. Last Thursday, Stefano's rendition of "Closer" resulted in him getting farther from the "Idol" title. A few days after his elimination, Stefano stopped by the MTV News studio to answer some hard-hitting questions (and by hard hitting, we mean completely ludicrous).

Stefano may not have a record deal like recent castoff Pia Toscano is rumored to have, but that doesn't mean he's going to stop trying to win over the hearts of America. He revealed to our own Jim Cantiello that his debut album would be named Right Path, and we can't help but root for Stefano to find that path and make it his own. After all, his favorite show on TV right now is "Survivor"; surely he's picked up some techniques throughout the past 22 seasons.

Hidden in between the serious questions Cantiello had to ask, we did manage to squeeze in some ridiculous queries, like "Would you rather have pancake batter shoot out of your navel or sweat sweet tea?" We highly recommend watching if you think this is not "The End of the Road" (snort) for Stefano.

Don't miss "Idol Party Live" every Thursday at noon on MTV.com for analysis, celebrity guests and even some karaoke — get in the conversation by tweeting with the hashtag #idolparty! In the meantime, get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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Veteran Daryl Hall Takes Best Performance Series O Music Award

Posted 4/27/11 1:10 pm EST by in Music


He's one-half of one of the best-selling male pop duos of all time and probably the last guy that comes to mind when you think of Internet innovation. But Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates has been building the perfect beast online since 2007 with his acclaimed free web-performance series, "Live From Daryl's House," which has featured everyone from Smokey Robinson to Travie McCoy, Neon Trees, Chromeo, Plain White T's and Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump.

Why are we telling you all this? Because the show just won the O Music Awards trophy for Best Performance Series, that's why. And in doing so it beat out some of the other most acclaimed and beloved live performance web shows, including 4AD's "Sessions," the A.V. Club's cover song series "Undercover," Beck's eclectic album covers experiment "Record Club," the taking-it-to-the-streets "Black Cab Sessions," Daytrotter's awesome series of indie shows, the intimate, HD "From the Basement" experience, the picturesque French acoustic series "La Blogotheque," MTV's own "Unplugged," the quirky "Tiny Desk Concerts" from NPR and the intimate "Yours Truly" series.

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Jennifer Lopez's 'Q'Viva!' Has A Q'Terrible Name

Posted 4/27/11 11:56 am EST by in Music, Television


On Wednesday, 19 Entertainment — aka "The guys behind 'American Idol'" — surprised practically nobody when they announced they were teaming with Jennifer Lopez — aka "The 'American Idol' judge who isn't in Aerosmith and didn't play bass on Journey's Raised on Radio " — for a brand-new reality show, called, annoyingly enough, "Q'Viva! The Chosen."

The show, according to a breathless press release, will follow J.Lo and her husband Marc Anthony on "an epic three-month-long journey to create the ultimate live show celebrating Latin music, artistry and dance ... they will travel to various regions of the Americas, from remote villages to major cities. Their mission is to assemble a cast of incredible performers of all nationality and create a spectacular live show which will become one of the greatest celebrations of Latin culture that the world has ever seen."

Sounds like Lou Dobbs will love it. And while we'll begrudgingly admit that "Q'Viva!" sounds like a good idea, we just can't get past that name. And yes, we understand it's basically an Anglicized version of the Spanish phrase "Que Viva" (which means "long live!"), but that's not what bothers us about it ... it's the terrible apostrophe.

Simply put, it makes no sense, and it makes the show sound like a burrito franchise. And though it appears that "Q'Viva!" is here to stay, we'd be remiss if we didn't alert J.Lo to other potential names for her show. Shoot, she can even keep the apostrophe if she wants.

» Q'Tastrophe
» Q'This Show Not Just A Clever Ploy To Have Someone Pay For Our South-American Vacation.
» Qur'an (note: could prove problematic)
» Q'ara DioGuardi Totally Blew It
» Q'uit Asking Me About "Gigli"
» Q'102: Iowa's Classic Rock Station
» Are You Q'uidding Me?!?

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Lollapalooza 2011 Lineup Has Us Feeling Existential

Posted 4/26/11 1:37 pm EST by in Music


EminemLate Monday night (or early Tuesday morning), the folks behind Lollapalooza revealed the lineup for the 2011 edition of the fest, a top-heavy bill featuring headliners like Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay and Muse that makes me feel like this.

Yes, I am having an existential, Tommy-Lee-Jones level crisis about Lolla 2011, which, in case you weren't aware, is also the 20th anniversary of the fest. It's not really because I have a problem with any of the headliners per se, it's just that, well, it would've been nice if any of them actually had ties to Lolla's past. Sure, there's some nods to recent history — Muse played the fest in 2007 — and plenty of synergy in the second-tier of bands (A Perfect Circle played the fest in 2003, Ween played in 2006, My Morning Jacket played in '06 and '07), but overall, it looks like Perry Farrell and Co. have largely ignored the past 20 years ... aside from a hard-to-navigate "Time Capsule" on Lollapalooza's official site, that is.

And, sure, maybe in the weeks leading up to the fest — it's set for August 5-7 in Chicago's Grant Park — all that will change, and organizers will announce a slew of nostalgia acts (surely, Psychotica could clear their schedule). Or maybe they won't, because they prefer to look forward ... and, really, that's their prerogative. But looking at this lineup as is, I just feel very Ed Tom Bell: world weary, saddened by the inevitable march of time, longing for the days of yore, yet bracing for the future. I am a man without a country, or a purpose. I am an anachronism.

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RIP X Ray Spex Singer Poly Styrene: Germ Free Adolescent

Posted 4/26/11 11:46 am EST by in Music, Obituary


"Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard ... but I think ... OH, BONDAGE UP YOURS!" Those are the opening lines of one of the greatest punk songs of all times, X Ray Spex's 1977 firebomb, "Oh, Bondage, Up Yours!"

They're spoken in a girlish English accent by Poly Styrene, the band's singer and one of the most iconic figures in punk history, who died on Monday at the age of 53 after a long battle with cancer.

Styrene (born Marianne Elliot-Said on June 3, 1957) came to embody everything that punk meant to this budding teenage anarchist when I first discovered the sound of youth in revolt. More than former flatmate Johnny Rotten's sneering snarl, Joey Ramone's snub-nosed hiccup or Joe Strummer's agitated yawp, Styrene sounded like punk felt: messy, untrained, unrestrained, unafraid and uninhibited.

Her strangulated vocals, atonal, piercing, and yes, at times annoying, embodied the DIY aspect of the first wave, an explosion of anger, aimlessness, class revolt and freedom of expression that blew up in the messy blast of songs like "The Day the World Turned Day-Glo" and the pogo-ing face-punch of "I am a Poseur."
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