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Showing posts with label Bring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bring. Show all posts

Saturday, March 16, 2013

SXSW 2013: Divine Fits Bring Britt Daniel Home

divine fits sxsw Divine Fits perform at the Viceland showcase on March 12th, 2013.Griffin Lotz for RollingStone.com


As an Austinite, Britt Daniel is no stranger to SXSW homecomings: his band Spoon has played more than one high-profile showcase during the annual music festival in the Texas capital. Last night, Daniel put a different spin on the local-hero angle, helping to close out the first night of SXSW with his other band, Divine Fits.

His group with Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner headlined Vice magazine's Tuesday night Viceland show with Japandroids and Wavves, just a few blocks from where Divine Fits made their live debut last year. The band, which also includes drummer Sam Brown of the New Bomb Turks and keyboardist Alex Fischel, faced the twin challenges of a constrained set time and iffy sound, and still managed a confident set that largely comprised songs from 2012's A Thing Called Divine Fits.

SXSW 2013: 20 Must-See Acts

Daniel mostly played bass, and Boeckner mostly played guitar, though they switched on a few songs, including "Would That Not Be Nice," as they traded off on lead vocals. Brown anchored "Baby Get Worse" with a booming beat, and Fischel set the tone for "My Love Is Real" with dark, gleaming synths. Daniel, wearing a JEFF the Brotherhood T-shirt under a black blazer, propelled "Flaggin' a Ride" with a relentless bassline, while Boeckner played trebly guitar on a new song whose name they didn't mention.
Although Divine Fits have worked a broad range of covers into their live sets over the past six months, they only had time for a couple, including a version of Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky" that had the crowd singing along with the refrain. They ended their set with another cover, from their album: Nick Cave's song "Shivers," which Daniel sang while Boeckner on guitar and Fischel on bass faced off at center stage.

japandroids sxsw Japandroids perform at the Viceland showcase on March 12th, 2013.Griffin Lotz for RollingStone.com

Before Divine Fits, Japandroids delivered a set of high-octane rock & roll that was frustratingly hard to hear any further than a few rows back. The Vancouver, British Columbia, due of Brian King and David Prowse brought a surging sense of power to a performance packed with bristling guitars and massive drums on songs that mostly came from last year's Celebration Rock LP. The pair's music is full of sing-along moments, and the crowd obliged, bellowing with the whoa-oh chorus from "Fire's Highway" and accompanying "The House That Heaven Built" with a thicket of upraised hands. 

Hands were upraised during Wavves' set, too, though that had a lot to do with holding aloft audience members who were crowd surfing while the southern California group charged through a set of loose and elemental garage-rock tunes. Though singer Nate Williams' vocals were mostly lost in the band's churning, a propulsive bassline pushed "Linus Spacehead" as people near the front of the stage flung water (or beer) on each other. Wavves also dipped into their forthcoming album, Afraid of Heights, with songs including the volatile rocker "Beat Me Up."

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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SXSW 2013: Divine Fits Bring Britt Daniel Home

divine fits sxsw Divine Fits perform at the Viceland showcase on March 12th, 2013.Griffin Lotz for RollingStone.com


As an Austinite, Britt Daniel is no stranger to SXSW homecomings: his band Spoon has played more than one high-profile showcase during the annual music festival in the Texas capital. Last night, Daniel put a different spin on the local-hero angle, helping to close out the first night of SXSW with his other band, Divine Fits.

His group with Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner headlined Vice magazine's Tuesday night Viceland show with Japandroids and Wavves, just a few blocks from where Divine Fits made their live debut last year. The band, which also includes drummer Sam Brown of the New Bomb Turks and keyboardist Alex Fischel, faced the twin challenges of a constrained set time and iffy sound, and still managed a confident set that largely comprised songs from 2012's A Thing Called Divine Fits.

SXSW 2013: 20 Must-See Acts

Daniel mostly played bass, and Boeckner mostly played guitar, though they switched on a few songs, including "Would That Not Be Nice," as they traded off on lead vocals. Brown anchored "Baby Get Worse" with a booming beat, and Fischel set the tone for "My Love Is Real" with dark, gleaming synths. Daniel, wearing a JEFF the Brotherhood T-shirt under a black blazer, propelled "Flaggin' a Ride" with a relentless bassline, while Boeckner played trebly guitar on a new song whose name they didn't mention.
Although Divine Fits have worked a broad range of covers into their live sets over the past six months, they only had time for a couple, including a version of Tom Petty's "You Got Lucky" that had the crowd singing along with the refrain. They ended their set with another cover, from their album: Nick Cave's song "Shivers," which Daniel sang while Boeckner on guitar and Fischel on bass faced off at center stage.

japandroids sxsw Japandroids perform at the Viceland showcase on March 12th, 2013.Griffin Lotz for RollingStone.com

Before Divine Fits, Japandroids delivered a set of high-octane rock & roll that was frustratingly hard to hear any further than a few rows back. The Vancouver, British Columbia, due of Brian King and David Prowse brought a surging sense of power to a performance packed with bristling guitars and massive drums on songs that mostly came from last year's Celebration Rock LP. The pair's music is full of sing-along moments, and the crowd obliged, bellowing with the whoa-oh chorus from "Fire's Highway" and accompanying "The House That Heaven Built" with a thicket of upraised hands. 

Hands were upraised during Wavves' set, too, though that had a lot to do with holding aloft audience members who were crowd surfing while the southern California group charged through a set of loose and elemental garage-rock tunes. Though singer Nate Williams' vocals were mostly lost in the band's churning, a propulsive bassline pushed "Linus Spacehead" as people near the front of the stage flung water (or beer) on each other. Wavves also dipped into their forthcoming album, Afraid of Heights, with songs including the volatile rocker "Beat Me Up."

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


Amazon MP3 Download Center

Friday, March 15, 2013

My Bloody Valentine Bring the Noise in London

Kevin Shields, My Bloody Valentine Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine performs in Indio, California.

If quiet really is the new loud, someone forgot to tell My Bloody Valentine. The reunited band's Tuesday night London show was certainly heavy on volume, if surprisingly light on new material.

Staff handed out earplugs to 5,000 fans on arrival at Hammersmith Apollo, the first of two dates at the venue serving as a climax to the band's first tour since the surprise appearance of new album MBV last month. While much of the show was pitched just the right side of deafening, hearing protection was certainly needed for an epic version of "You Made Me Realise." The set's penultimate song, it saw guitarist/vocalist Kevin Shields hammering away at the same chord for almost 10 brutal, feedback-drenched minutes.

That had many fans covering their ears and even sent a few scurrying for the exits, although others raised their arms and were lost in reverie. But the rest of the set was just as effective – if usually more subtle – at highlighting the enduring appeal of My Bloody Valentine's signature noise-pop sound.

The set began with the powerful indie dance groove of "I Only Said," taken from the band's classic 1991 album, Loveless, which provided the spine of the set. Six songs from that album were aired, including uncompromising versions of "Only Shallow," "To Here Knows When" and a pulsating "Soon."

500 Greatest Albums of All Time: My Bloody Valentine, 'Loveless'

But while the follow-up album may have taken 22 years to arrive, songs from MBV had no problem gelling with the rest of the set, sounding almost like a sonic continuation of where the preceding record left off. "New You" saw Shields' phased guitar blending with singer-guitarist Bilinda Butcher's blissed-out vocals, while "Only Tomorrow" brought a harder-edged guitar grind to proceedings.

Meanwhile, set closer "Wonder 2" – which saw drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig come out from behind his kit to play additional guitar – was the loudest, spikiest new song on display, although it still sounded like light relief after the aural assault of "You Made Me Realise."

Ó Cíosóig and bassist Debbie Googe provided most of the onstage movement, urging each other on as the band locked into a mesmerizing groove on songs such as "Slow" and "Thorn." The band has been back playing together since 2008, although there was little of the easy nostalgia or ostentatious bonhomie often seen with reunited acts. While shouts of "We love you!" could be heard from the crowd during the few quieter moments, Shields said maybe 10 words all evening, most of them inaudible, and Butcher even less, both standing impassive during even the most musically extreme moments.

Fortunately, the music spoke volumes, with even older songs such as "You Never Should" and "Feed Me With Your Kiss," from 1988's Isn't Anything, sounding thrillingly contemporary, while some visual spectacle was provided by relentless strobe lighting and the projection of arty, blurry images onto the backdrop throughout. Shields briefly switched to acoustic guitar on "Cigarette in Your Bed," although even then the resulting version was anything but mellow.

Nothing could compare, however, to the maelstrom of white noise that was "You Made Me Realise," which left many of the crowd stunned into silence.

My Bloody Valentine's U.K. tour concludes Wednesday at the same venue. The good news for those with shares in earplug manufacture is that further dates in Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Norway, Poland and Germany have been announced for the summer.

Set list:
"I Only Said"
"When You Sleep"
"New You"
"You Never Should"
"Honey Power"
"Cigarette in Your Bed"
"Only Tomorrow"
"Come in Alone"
"Only Shallow"
"Thorn"
"Nothing Much to Lose"
"To Here Knows When"
"Slow"
"Soon"
"Feed Me With Your Kiss"
"You Made Me Realise"
"Wonder 2"


To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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Thursday, March 14, 2013

My Bloody Valentine Bring the Noise in London

Kevin Shields, My Bloody Valentine Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine performs in Indio, California.

If quiet really is the new loud, someone forgot to tell My Bloody Valentine. The reunited band's Tuesday night London show was certainly heavy on volume, if surprisingly light on new material.

Staff handed out earplugs to 5,000 fans on arrival at Hammersmith Apollo, the first of two dates at the venue serving as a climax to the band's first tour since the surprise appearance of new album MBV last month. While much of the show was pitched just the right side of deafening, hearing protection was certainly needed for an epic version of "You Made Me Realise." The set's penultimate song, it saw guitarist/vocalist Kevin Shields hammering away at the same chord for almost 10 brutal, feedback-drenched minutes.

That had many fans covering their ears and even sent a few scurrying for the exits, although others raised their arms and were lost in reverie. But the rest of the set was just as effective – if usually more subtle – at highlighting the enduring appeal of My Bloody Valentine's signature noise-pop sound.

The set began with the powerful indie dance groove of "I Only Said," taken from the band's classic 1991 album, Loveless, which provided the spine of the set. Six songs from that album were aired, including uncompromising versions of "Only Shallow," "To Here Knows When" and a pulsating "Soon."

500 Greatest Albums of All Time: My Bloody Valentine, 'Loveless'

But while the follow-up album may have taken 22 years to arrive, songs from MBV had no problem gelling with the rest of the set, sounding almost like a sonic continuation of where the preceding record left off. "New You" saw Shields' phased guitar blending with singer-guitarist Bilinda Butcher's blissed-out vocals, while "Only Tomorrow" brought a harder-edged guitar grind to proceedings.

Meanwhile, set closer "Wonder 2" – which saw drummer Colm Ó Cíosóig come out from behind his kit to play additional guitar – was the loudest, spikiest new song on display, although it still sounded like light relief after the aural assault of "You Made Me Realise."

Ó Cíosóig and bassist Debbie Googe provided most of the onstage movement, urging each other on as the band locked into a mesmerizing groove on songs such as "Slow" and "Thorn." The band has been back playing together since 2008, although there was little of the easy nostalgia or ostentatious bonhomie often seen with reunited acts. While shouts of "We love you!" could be heard from the crowd during the few quieter moments, Shields said maybe 10 words all evening, most of them inaudible, and Butcher even less, both standing impassive during even the most musically extreme moments.

Fortunately, the music spoke volumes, with even older songs such as "You Never Should" and "Feed Me With Your Kiss," from 1988's Isn't Anything, sounding thrillingly contemporary, while some visual spectacle was provided by relentless strobe lighting and the projection of arty, blurry images onto the backdrop throughout. Shields briefly switched to acoustic guitar on "Cigarette in Your Bed," although even then the resulting version was anything but mellow.

Nothing could compare, however, to the maelstrom of white noise that was "You Made Me Realise," which left many of the crowd stunned into silence.

My Bloody Valentine's U.K. tour concludes Wednesday at the same venue. The good news for those with shares in earplug manufacture is that further dates in Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Norway, Poland and Germany have been announced for the summer.

Set list:
"I Only Said"
"When You Sleep"
"New You"
"You Never Should"
"Honey Power"
"Cigarette in Your Bed"
"Only Tomorrow"
"Come in Alone"
"Only Shallow"
"Thorn"
"Nothing Much to Lose"
"To Here Knows When"
"Slow"
"Soon"
"Feed Me With Your Kiss"
"You Made Me Realise"
"Wonder 2"


To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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Friday, September 14, 2012

Florence Welch and Jimmy Fallon Bring Back 'Balls in Your Mouth'

Florence Welch and Jimmy Fallon Bring Back 'Balls in Your Mouth''Late Night' host revives his oil spill protest song with Welch and Co. $(document).ready(function() { $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .email-content').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.email').hide(); } ); $('.socialActionsTop .pageActions .print-page').hover( function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').show(); }, function() { $('.socialActionsTop .bubble.print').hide(); } ); }); By

While they're currently trekking across the U.S., Florence and the Machine swung by Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night for a very special performance. The band performed "Spectrum (Say My Name)" to close out the show, but the real highlight came earlier, when Florence Welch joined Fallon for a rousing rendition of "Balls in Your Mouth" – the protest song he wrote in 2010 about the tar balls washing up on the shore following the BP oil spill.

As Hurricane Isaac has caused old tar balls to reach shores again, it was an apt opportunity to bring back the track, and Welch gave the song's earworm of a refrain – "Balls in your mouth / Balls in your mouth / Don't swim in the ocean / You'll get balls in your mouth" – a full diva makeover. The studio audience and the Roots made sure to get in on the fun, too.


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Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Rolling Stones Bring 'Crossfire Hurricane' to HBO November 15th

The Rolling Stones debut the new documentary Crossfire Hurricane November 15th on HBO. The film tracks the band's career, from their teenage origins to their rise to stadium-sized glory and beyond. "This is not an academic history lesson," director Brett Morgan said in a statement, describing the film as an invitation to "experience firsthand the Stones' nearly mythical journey from outsiders to rock & roll royalty."

The Rolling Stones are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and recently spent time in a Paris recording studio. The band will also premiere their tour documentary The Rolling Stones: Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965 as part of the New York Film Festival on September 29th.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Brandy Wants to Bring R&B Back With New Album

Brandy wants to bring R&B back. Yesterday afternoon, RCA and Chameleon Records invited select media to preview 11 tracks from Brandy's upcoming sixth album, Two Eleven, dropping October 16th. It's Brandy at her most realized: romantically shaky, vocally sharp and musically sound, thanks to an honors corral of producers and songwriters spanning Sean Garrett, Bangladesh, Frank Ocean, Mario Winans, Hit-Boy, Ester Dean, Harmony and more.

Over the course of her decades-long career, Brandy has become a woman before our eyes, outgrowing the baby-lamb naiveté of 1994's Brandy and assuming the role of self-actualized woman (2002's Full Moon). But it was with 2004's Afrodisiac that she faltered in her steps, openly wallowing in a bitter divorce, before rising above the dancing flames on '08's Human. On Two Eleven, she juggles heartache and romantic solace, a nod to past delusions filtered through the hindsight of 33-year-old reticence.

Chameleon CEO Breyon Prescott emceed the session. "I saw music going someplace else," he said. "I was like, the only way Brandy should come back is bringing R&B music back. I see everyone doing dance music, and I was like, we can't do this," said Prescott, who acknowledged side work on Dr. Dre's mythical Detox, promising its imminent release.

"We gotta stick to the core, which is R&B. I got to bring you back to 2012 with hard beats, but the melodies are soft, and the content of the songs are going to be Brandy."

Throughout Two Eleven, a nod to her birthday and the date of mentor Whitney Houston's death, Brandy is as quick to pledge allegiance to lovers as she is to scorn them. On the upcoming Sean Garrett-penned single "Wildest Dreams," the follow-up to lead track "Put It Down" (featuring Chris Brown), the emotional rug is pulled from under her: "Never in my wildest dreams did I think someone could care 'bout me/ Not just the way you love me, but you know I'm emotional (sometimes)," she croons over a thwacking beat courtesy of Tha Bizness.

Producer Bangladesh helms the wobbly, club-geared "Let Me Go," which features an interpolation of Lykke Li's "Tonight," as well as the oiled slow jam "So Sick," written by Garrett, where the singer shoves off a violating lover ("How far do you think I'll let you push me before I cross the line?"). Mike WiLL Made It, known for ratchet anthems including Meek Mill's "Tupac Back" and Gucci Mane's "Too Sexy," shows his softer side with "Do You Know," where Brandy cuts down her man for failing to return her affections.

Elsewhere, Brandy acknowledges that her own emotions have betrayed her on "Wish Your Love Away," written and produced by Mario Winans. Over a piping pan flute and serrated drums, she bemoans a man who played her for a fool – "Remember that you told me you were with it, and all them other bitches you could do without?" – but she can't shake the spell.

Rico Love and Jim Jonsin lace the pecking mid-tempo ballad "Hardly Breathing," where she suffers as her lover walks away, while Hit-Boy blesses the smoldering ballad "White Flag," an admission of emotional defeat.

Two Eleven, still a work-in-progress set to include 15 tracks, also features the Frank Ocean-written "Scared of Beautiful," which will become a duet pending the Odd Future singer's vocal addition. Over double-time instrumentation, Brandy stops seeking reciprocity and focuses inward. "I wonder why there's no mirrors on these walls no more/ You can't tell me why you're so terrified of beautiful," she sings. She's looking only to herself – no man to safety-net her feelings – and she is ready to face her reflection.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


Amazon Music and MP3 Center

Brandy Wants to Bring R&B Back With New Album

Brandy wants to bring R&B back. Yesterday afternoon, RCA and Chameleon Records invited select media to preview 11 tracks from Brandy's upcoming sixth album, Two Eleven, dropping October 16th. It's Brandy at her most realized: romantically shaky, vocally sharp and musically sound, thanks to an honors corral of producers and songwriters spanning Sean Garrett, Bangladesh, Frank Ocean, Mario Winans, Hit-Boy, Ester Dean, Harmony and more.

Over the course of her decades-long career, Brandy has become a woman before our eyes, outgrowing the baby-lamb naiveté of 1994's Brandy and assuming the role of self-actualized woman (2002's Full Moon). But it was with 2004's Afrodisiac that she faltered in her steps, openly wallowing in a bitter divorce, before rising above the dancing flames on '08's Human. On Two Eleven, she juggles heartache and romantic solace, a nod to past delusions filtered through the hindsight of 33-year-old reticence.

Chameleon CEO Breyon Prescott emceed the session. "I saw music going someplace else," he said. "I was like, the only way Brandy should come back is bringing R&B music back. I see everyone doing dance music, and I was like, we can't do this," said Prescott, who acknowledged side work on Dr. Dre's mythical Detox, promising its imminent release.

"We gotta stick to the core, which is R&B. I got to bring you back to 2012 with hard beats, but the melodies are soft, and the content of the songs are going to be Brandy."

Throughout Two Eleven, a nod to her birthday and the date of mentor Whitney Houston's death, Brandy is as quick to pledge allegiance to lovers as she is to scorn them. On the upcoming Sean Garrett-penned single "Wildest Dreams," the follow-up to lead track "Put It Down" (featuring Chris Brown), the emotional rug is pulled from under her: "Never in my wildest dreams did I think someone could care 'bout me/ Not just the way you love me, but you know I'm emotional (sometimes)," she croons over a thwacking beat courtesy of Tha Bizness.

Producer Bangladesh helms the wobbly, club-geared "Let Me Go," which features an interpolation of Lykke Li's "Tonight," as well as the oiled slow jam "So Sick," written by Garrett, where the singer shoves off a violating lover ("How far do you think I'll let you push me before I cross the line?"). Mike WiLL Made It, known for ratchet anthems including Meek Mill's "Tupac Back" and Gucci Mane's "Too Sexy," shows his softer side with "Do You Know," where Brandy cuts down her man for failing to return her affections.

Elsewhere, Brandy acknowledges that her own emotions have betrayed her on "Wish Your Love Away," written and produced by Mario Winans. Over a piping pan flute and serrated drums, she bemoans a man who played her for a fool – "Remember that you told me you were with it, and all them other bitches you could do without?" – but she can't shake the spell.

Rico Love and Jim Jonsin lace the pecking mid-tempo ballad "Hardly Breathing," where she suffers as her lover walks away, while Hit-Boy blesses the smoldering ballad "White Flag," an admission of emotional defeat.

Two Eleven, still a work-in-progress set to include 15 tracks, also features the Frank Ocean-written "Scared of Beautiful," which will become a duet pending the Odd Future singer's vocal addition. Over double-time instrumentation, Brandy stops seeking reciprocity and focuses inward. "I wonder why there's no mirrors on these walls no more/ You can't tell me why you're so terrified of beautiful," she sings. She's looking only to herself – no man to safety-net her feelings – and she is ready to face her reflection.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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Saturday, April 7, 2012

On the Charts: Madonna and Lionel Richie Bring Back the Eighties

Madonna Madonna introduces Avicii as part of Day Two of Ultra Music Festival in Miami.

WINNER OF THE WEEK: The Eighties. Madonna's MDNA, which is perhaps not the world's best dance album, is still full of banging-enough anthems to remind Lady Gaga, David Guetta and Skrillex who started today's dance music craze in the first place. It sold 359,000 copies to notch the eighth Billboard Number One in Madonna's career. At a distant second, meanwhile, is Lionel Richie, who takes a sharp creative turn (covering country songs) on his new Tuskegee LP while still remaining in his middle-of-the-road comfort zone. Tuskegee sold 199,000 copies to earn Richie his best chart placing since 1986. Below that, the charts return abruptly to the present, with Adele's 21 at Number Three (selling 121,000 copies). Interestingly, Tuskegee hit Number One on iTunes while MDNA was just Number Three (Shinedown's Amaryllis was between them, although it came in at Number Four on the Billboard chart, selling 106,000 copies).

LOSER OF THE WEEK: The Hunger Games soundtrack. The album starring Taylor Swift, the Civil Wars, Arcade Fire, Kid Cudi, the Decemberists and more hit Number One last week, but sales dropped 64 percent this week with 64,000 copies sold. In further bad news, Swift's two singles from the album, "Eyes Open" and "Safe & Sound," have dropped off the iTunes Top Songs chart completely. On BigChampagne's new Ultimate Chart, which measures Internet criteria, "Eyes Open" is at Number Six and "Safe & Sound" jumped 25 places to Number 19 – leading us to believe a lot of Swift devotees are hearing those singles for free via YouTube or Spotify.

GOTYE GET YOU OUT OF MY LIFE: In order to have international success on the pop charts, it helps to have heritage from two different regions. And, of course, to make a killer single with a killer video. Gotye, the Belgian-Australian singer behind the irresistible AAA-radio fixture "Somebody That I Used to Know," is Number Two in France, Number One in the U.K., Number Seven in Canada, Number Eight in the Netherlands, Number Two in Italy, Number Three in Switzerland, Number One in Denmark and Number Three in the U.S. (where his single sold 244,000 copies this week, up 17 percent). Interestingly, though, Gotye is nowhere to be found on the digital-singles charts in either Belgium or Australia.

LAST WEEK: Sales are in 'The Hunger Games' Favor

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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On the Charts: Madonna and Lionel Richie Bring Back the Eighties

Madonna Madonna introduces Avicii as part of Day Two of Ultra Music Festival in Miami.

WINNER OF THE WEEK: The Eighties. Madonna's MDNA, which is perhaps not the world's best dance album, is still full of banging-enough anthems to remind Lady Gaga, David Guetta and Skrillex who started today's dance music craze in the first place. It sold 359,000 copies to notch the eighth Billboard Number One in Madonna's career. At a distant second, meanwhile, is Lionel Richie, who takes a sharp creative turn (covering country songs) on his new Tuskegee LP while still remaining in his middle-of-the-road comfort zone. Tuskegee sold 199,000 copies to earn Richie his best chart placing since 1986. Below that, the charts return abruptly to the present, with Adele's 21 at Number Three (selling 121,000 copies). Interestingly, Tuskegee hit Number One on iTunes while MDNA was just Number Three (Shinedown's Amaryllis was between them, although it came in at Number Four on the Billboard chart, selling 106,000 copies).

LOSER OF THE WEEK: The Hunger Games soundtrack. The album starring Taylor Swift, the Civil Wars, Arcade Fire, Kid Cudi, the Decemberists and more hit Number One last week, but sales dropped 64 percent this week with 64,000 copies sold. In further bad news, Swift's two singles from the album, "Eyes Open" and "Safe & Sound," have dropped off the iTunes Top Songs chart completely. On BigChampagne's new Ultimate Chart, which measures Internet criteria, "Eyes Open" is at Number Six and "Safe & Sound" jumped 25 places to Number 19 – leading us to believe a lot of Swift devotees are hearing those singles for free via YouTube or Spotify.

GOTYE GET YOU OUT OF MY LIFE: In order to have international success on the pop charts, it helps to have heritage from two different regions. And, of course, to make a killer single with a killer video. Gotye, the Belgian-Australian singer behind the irresistible AAA-radio fixture "Somebody That I Used to Know," is Number Two in France, Number One in the U.K., Number Seven in Canada, Number Eight in the Netherlands, Number Two in Italy, Number Three in Switzerland, Number One in Denmark and Number Three in the U.S. (where his single sold 244,000 copies this week, up 17 percent). Interestingly, though, Gotye is nowhere to be found on the digital-singles charts in either Belgium or Australia.

LAST WEEK: Sales are in 'The Hunger Games' Favor

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

'Hunger Games' Expected to Bring in More Than $300 Million Profit

Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark in 'The Hunger Games.'

After The Hunger Games posted a record-breaking opening weekend, netting an estimated $155 million, analysts predicted that number would ultimately total to more than $300 million in profit for independent studio Lionsgate, according to the Los Angeles Times.

JP Morgan media analyst Monica Dicenso predicted that the first Hunger Games film would yield $310 million in profit and the series as a whole will rake in $1.5 billion. James Marsh of Piper Jaffray said the totals could be even higher, with more than $400 million from the first movie and more than $2 billion for the entire series.

This would be a major success for the film company, which has posted net losses in its last four fiscal years. Although Lionsgate hit a few home runs with Saw and Precious, last year took a toll with big budget flops including Conan the Barbarian.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Little Hurricane Bring the Heat to SXSW

Little Hurricane plays at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Little Hurricane might be a duo, but they have a big sound and they aren't afraid to get messy. "I've gotten used to wiping my sweat with my socks," drummer Celeste "CC" Spina tells Rolling Stone before their gig at SXSW's Auditorium Shores Stage, where she and guitarist Anthony "Tone" Catalano opened for M. Ward and the Shins.

The morning was overcast, but the sun came out just in time for Little Hurricane's midday set, which opened with "Trouble Ahead," a swampy, foreboding tune with makeshift slide guitar. On "Give 'Em Hell," Spina batted her lashes and belted out the song's refrain while banging a kick drum and strumming a mandolin. "You can sing along if you like," she yelled to the crowd. "It's just 'give 'em hell' over and over again."

Since forming two years ago, the San Diego blues-rock band has been building a following on the festival circuit, including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. Last year marked their first trip down to Austin for SXSW. "We burned a bunch of CDs, and I literally put on a captain's hat, stood on the corner of 6th and Trinity and handed out our stuff to everyone walking by," says Spina. "We ended up in a sandwich shop called Which Wich and saw these guys with an itinerary. We were like, 'Here's our flyer! You probably won't come to any of our shows, but check out our music.'" As it turned out, those "guys" worked at the indie label Roadrunner Records. "A month later, we got a call saying, 'We want to fly you out to New York for a showcase,'" says Spina. The duo is now gearing up to release their debut LP in May.

Although it's mostly been a smooth ride for Little Hurricane, choosing their name didn't come so easily. "It took us a while, actually," Tone says. "At first it was Hurricane, but people don't like hurricanes. Little hurricanes are OK. It's more of a party, and less of a disaster."

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here


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Monday, March 19, 2012

Little Hurricane Bring the Heat to SXSW

Little Hurricane plays at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Little Hurricane might be a duo, but they have a big sound and they aren't afraid to get messy. "I've gotten used to wiping my sweat with my socks," drummer Celeste "CC" Spina tells Rolling Stone before their gig at SXSW's Auditorium Shores Stage, where she and guitarist Anthony "Tone" Catalano opened for M. Ward and the Shins.

The morning was overcast, but the sun came out just in time for Little Hurricane's midday set, which opened with "Trouble Ahead," a swampy, foreboding tune with makeshift slide guitar. On "Give 'Em Hell," Spina batted her lashes and belted out the song's refrain while banging a kick drum and strumming a mandolin. "You can sing along if you like," she yelled to the crowd. "It's just 'give 'em hell' over and over again."

Since forming two years ago, the San Diego blues-rock band has been building a following on the festival circuit, including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. Last year marked their first trip down to Austin for SXSW. "We burned a bunch of CDs, and I literally put on a captain's hat, stood on the corner of 6th and Trinity and handed out our stuff to everyone walking by," says Spina. "We ended up in a sandwich shop called Which Wich and saw these guys with an itinerary. We were like, 'Here's our flyer! You probably won't come to any of our shows, but check out our music.'" As it turned out, those "guys" worked at the indie label Roadrunner Records. "A month later, we got a call saying, 'We want to fly you out to New York for a showcase,'" says Spina. The duo is now gearing up to release their debut LP in May.

Although it's mostly been a smooth ride for Little Hurricane, choosing their name didn't come so easily. "It took us a while, actually," Tone says. "At first it was Hurricane, but people don't like hurricanes. Little hurricanes are OK. It's more of a party, and less of a disaster."

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