Director Sydney Pollack dies of cancer & other: 2008

Friday 5 September 2008

Christina Aguilera to perform at VMAs

Christina Aguilera has been announced to perform at this Sunday�??s MTV Video Music Awards taking place in Los Angeles.

Speaking at a adjure conference today, Aguilera revealed the show be the first time her baby son Max will learn her perform.

"I'm very excited. This will be his first time observation me perform on telecasting, but only for a little piece because he's not truly allowed to watch television yet. I'll make an exception for the VMAs," she aforementioned of the 8 month-old.

Aguilera joins world Health Organization will duet with Rihanna, teen heartthrobs The Jonas Brothers, Kanye West and who will perform Madonna�??s �??Like A Virgin�??.

--By our New York staff.
Find out more than about NME.

More information

Thursday 7 August 2008

Grizzly Bear Show Vampire Weekend the Correct Way to Appreciate Paul Simon

1. Grizzly Bear, "Mother and Child Reunion" (Paul Simon)

From April's Paul Simon tribute show at BAM, this excellent encompass � which recasts Simon's 1973 original basically as a Grizzly Bear call �

Sunday 15 June 2008

Jude Rogers on Sir Paul McCartney's admiration of the Wombats

Hold the front page, Liverpool-lovers: Sir Paul McCartney has said he fancies a pop at producing his fellow Scousers, the Wombats. Just imagine: a purple-haired pusher of blackbirds and frog choruses taking a fancy to three frizzy-haired, short-legged, nocturnal creatures. It's like something out of the Magical Mystery Tour on even more drugs.

In our more sober reality, this collaboration still looks mighty peculiar. After all, our Paul is a perky-thumbed songwriting colossus who knocked out Yesterday before his 23rd birthday. The Wombats are deeply average indie-rock unit-shifters who sing about school uniforms and backfiring at discos. Still, give Macca his due - there's nothing like an elderly local statesman rolling up his sleeves to help out a few youngsters.

It's obvious what's in this for the Wombats: a big spike in record sales, a new audience, and a bigger, better profile. But what's in it for McCartney? Now in his 65th year, he could be kicking back and enjoying his copious royalties. On recent form, he's doing quite the contrary: releasing an album every other year, and playing gigs like a mop-top possessed. (Which is to say that his recent divorce seems to have fuelled his activity, rather than quelled it.) To link up with a young band can only add to the impression of an artist still glimmering with spark, health and virility. It also helps that the group he covets, of course, are Liverpudlian.

The Wombats' youth, in some ways, is even more important than their Merseyside connections. Much of McCartney's music, after all, has been driven by the experiences of his early years. His last two albums, in particular, have bubbled over with such references. 2005's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard bubbled with nostalgic songs about English Tea and Too Much Rain, and even featured a picture of himself on the cover - a teenager, in his family's back garden, strumming on a guitar. And many of the lyrics on last year's Memory Almost Full hinted at his fear of forgetting - a fear made more poignant by what was happening in his personal life. Its second track almost said too much: "I hope it isn't too late/ Searching for the time that has gone so fast/ The time that I thought would last/ My ever-present past."

In that ever-present past, we also remember the altruism of the younger McCartney. With John Lennon beside him, some of their great early songs were given to other artists - I Wanna Be Your Man to the Rolling Stones, or I'll Keep You Satisfied to Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas. Not only did this reflect the practices of the time, but it also underlined the prolific talents of the twosome, and their happiness to perform for other people. So, by offering his services to a new generation, McCartney is both continuing his legacy, and remembering the machinations of his youth.

Saying that, there's also a cynical explanation for McCartney's admiration of the Wombats. The band met at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (Lipa), the school founded in 1996 by Mark Featherstone-Witty and - oh hello, Paul McCartney. Is our boy simply patting himself on the back? Call me a soft touch, but I don't think it's that simple. And even if it were, I don't really begrudge him. After all, the meat-machine whiff of the Brit School may surround Lipa's alumni, but at least Sir Paul has done what a thousand megastars haven't - put his money where his mouth is and practically encouraged the next generation.

McCartney shouldn't stop here. If he's so keen on his Liverpudlian legacy, he should think about what he could do for the city's more interesting musicians: the Zutons, Ladytron or Candie Payne. But for now, by all means, embrace the Wombats, Sir Paul. Perhaps bend their ears towards the episodic madness of Band On the Run, though, or the mad electronic pop of Temporary Secretary off McCartney II. You've given us your legacy; time to help Liverpool's new breed give us their own.

See Also

Wednesday 11 June 2008

No Doubt - Was The Racer Fixed

Warner Bros. on Monday was being accused of cooking the books Monday after it turned
out that their box-office estimate for the opening weekend of Speed Racer was
way off the mark. The studio had predicted that the film would wind up with $20.2
million in ticket sales, putting it in second place. "It's far from the first time a
studio with an underperforming pic has overestimated its Sunday gross and avoided
an embarrassing third-place finish in Monday morning box office stories," Daily
Variety commented today (Tuesday). The estimated figure, not the final one, is
the one that receives the most play in the press -- if for no other reason than that
Sunday is ordinarily a light news day. Few analysts had believed the studio's estimate,
given the movie's weak showing on Friday and Saturday. (Weekend estimates include
actual figures for Friday and Saturday and estimated sales for Sunday.) As things
turned out, the movie debuted with just $18.6 million -- a figure that will no doubt
cause heads eventually to fall at the studio, which reportedly spent $250-300 million
to produce and market it. Taking over second place was the debuting romantic comedy
What Happens in Vegas from 20th Century Fox, which wound up with $20.2 million,
the same amount that had been forecast for Speed Racer. Meanwhile, the second
weekend of Iron Man earned $51.2 million, more than the debuts of Vegas
and Racer put together, keeping it in first place.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media
by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Iron
Man, Paramount, $51,190,629, 2 Wks. ($177,825,024); 2. What Happens in Vegas, Fo
x, $20,172,474, (New); 3. Speed Racer, Warner Bros., $18,561,337, (New); 4.
Made of Honor, Sony, $8,116,323, 2 Wks. ($26,791,494); 5. Baby Mama,
Universal, $6,225,790, 3 Wks. ($40,836,370); 6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall,
Universal, $3,837,240, 4 Wks. ($50,781,745); 7. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo
Bay, Warner Bros., $3,106,424, 3 Wks. ($30,667,308); 8 . The Forbidden Kingdom,
Lionsgate, $2,169,323, 4 Wks. ($48,530,104); 9. Nim's Island, Fox, $1,463,622,
6 Wks. ($44,395,857); 10. Prom Night, Sony, $1,012,986, 5 Wks. ($42,785,107).

13/05/2008

See Also

Act Of God

Artist: Act Of God

   Genre(s):
Metal: Death,Black
   Other

Discography:

The Place Of Worship

Year: 2005
Tracks: 10

...For Demon

Year: 2002
Tracks: 7

Hariprasad Chaurasia and Amareesh Leib

Kelsey Grammer Released From Hospital

Hollywood actor Kelsey Grammer was released from a Hawaiian hospital on Wednesday (3 June), where he was recovering after suffering from a heart attack last weekend.

Grammer, 53, is "resting comfortably at his Hawaiian residence", his rep says. "He wishes to thank those who phoned, emailed, or wrote expressions of concern to him."

The 'Fraiser' experienced symptoms of a heart attack on Saturday (May 31) after paddle boarding with his wife Camille.

NEXT: X-Files' Gillian Anderson Pregnant

Photo courtesy of NBC. Taken by Justin Lubin

Do Or Die

Artist: Do Or Die

   Genre(s):
Rap: Hip-Hop

Discography:

Get That Paper

Year: 2006
Tracks: 10

The Meaning Of Honor

Year: 2002
Tracks: 13

Back 2 The Game

Year: 2002
Tracks: 14

Victory

Year: 2000
Tracks: 17

Headz Or Tailz

Year: 1998
Tracks: 17

Picture This

Year: 1996
Tracks: 11

Chicago's Do or Die gained a hit with their first single, Po Pimp. Released on a lilliputian Chicago judge, the track became a local off and sparked the group's signing by Houston's Rap-A-Lot Records. Given a wide button in the summer of 1996, the single hit number 22, increasing the buzz for a uncut from the group. In September of that year, Scene This was released on Rap-A-Lot. Do or Die returned to action at law in the spring of 1998, cathartic their second record album, Headz or Tailz. Victory followed two days later on. Plump for 2 the Game (2002) and Pimpin' Ain't Dead (2003) did well in Chicago and on the West Coast, merely nationwide the group was being ignored by wireless. With R. Kelly, Kanye West, and Twista all making node appearances, 2005's D.O.D. was an attempt to change this. A year later, Do or Die went in a completely unlike focus by releasing the heavy, street-minded Develop That Paper with Bun B the solitary node star topology.

Jessica Alba gives birth to baby girl named Honor

LOS ANGELES —

Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren are new parents. The 27-year-old actress gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Honor Marie Warren, on Saturday, her publicist Brad Cafarelli said Monday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Cafarelli didn't provide further details.

Alba and Warren wed last month after becoming engaged in December. They met on the set of the 2005 film "The Fantastic Four," which costarred Alba. Warren was a director's assistant.

See Also

Beckhams Deny Plans To Return To UK

A representative for Victoria and David Beckham has denied the couple is planning to sell their Los Angeles home and move back to their native U.K.

The Spice Girl and her family were rumoured to be considering a transfer back to London after they reportedly hired a top L.A.-based company to design the layout for a new British house.

The couple moved to the U.S. last year with their children - Brooklyn, nine, Romeo, five, and Cruz, three - when soccer ace David joined the LA Galaxy team.

But a spokesperson for the pair has denied they are planning on giving up their life in L.A., telling the Daily Star, "Victoria has said if they ever move back to the U.K. they will move to central London but there are no plans at the moment."

See Also

Grey's Anatomy star Shanghai-bound

Former 'Grey's Anatomy' star Jeffrey Dean Morgan is to star opposite John Cusack and Ken Watanabe in the thriller 'Shanghai'.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Morgan will play Connor, an American murdered in Japanese-occupied Shanghai before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Cusack will play a friend who sets out to investigate and finds himself embroiled in a cover-up.
The film is currently in production in Thailand with '1408' director Mikael Hafstrom directing.
For a chance to win 'Grey's Anatomy' merchandise, click here.