Barack Obama in Rolling Stone
2008-03-16 13:00:15.328382
href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/19106326">Barack Obama's Machinery of Hope by Tim Dickinson [From RS1048 — March 20, 2007]
href="http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/19066990/barack_obama_a_photo_historyn" tar="tar" get="blank">Photo Gallery: Barack Obama, a History in Pictures [From RS1048 — March 20, 2007]
href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/19106551/a_new_hope"> An Endorsement: Barack Obama for President by Jann S. Wenner [From RS1048 — March 20, 2007]
href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17652931/obamas_moment"> Obama's Moment by Matt Taibbi [From Issue 1042/1043 — December 27, 2007-January 10, 2008]
...Cover Story: Jack Johnson - The Dude Abides
2008-03-16 11:00:16.098881
Click href="http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/18653440/jack_johnson_rocks_mellowest_sup" target="blank">here for a photo gallery of rock's mellow superstar onstage and off, style="text-decoration:none; color:#bb1111" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/02/21/eddie-vedder-on-jack-johnson-what-hes-doing-is-real/" target="blank">here on why Eddie Vedder loves Jack Johnson, and href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18726707/jack_johnson_filmmaker" target="blank">here to hear Johnson discuss filming surf scenes, complete with footage from his film "Thicker Than Water"
When he's away from home during a long tour, Jack Johnson has anxiety dreams that wake him up in the middle of the night.
"I get completely haunted," he says. In his most vivid dream, Johnson is standing on the beach with a guitar, gazing into the...
The Machinery of Hope
2008-03-16 12:00:16.107533
href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/19106551/a_new_hope"> Click here for Rolling Stone's endorsement of Barack Obama and href="http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/gallery/19066990/barack_obama_a_photo_history" target="blank">here for a photo timeline of Obama's life.
It's Presidents day, two weeks before the Texas primary, and Adam Ukman has come to the small city of San Marcos to train precinct captains for Barack Obama. A soft-spoken native of Houston, Ukman has served on the campaign's front lines in Iowa and Utah, organizing grass-roots supporters to secure decisive victories in both states. This evening, more than eighty residents of San Marcos have crammed into a yellow clapboard recreation center on a street dotted with shacks that date from the Jim Crow era. "Our job is not to run in here to tell you how it's going to be," Ukman tells them. "This is your campaign. Not our campaign."
Anyone who has spent time around Democratic politics has heard this kind of rhetoric before. Most often, it's pure horseshit. But...
2 understudies take over the Met stage (AP)
2008-03-16 07:00:13.657324
By MIKE SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 15, 10:30 PM ET
NEW YORK - Call it "Tristan und Isolde — und Isolde."On a night full of surprises and considerable musical rewards, the Metropolitan Opera's revival of Wagner's epic drama about doomed lovers with a serious death wish came perilously close to being doomed itself.
The original cast looked, on paper, like a dream — heldentenor Ben Heppner repeating his acclaimed interpretation of Tristan and soprano Deborah Voigt singing Isolde for the first time at the Met.
Then Heppner came down with a virus and canceled the first four of six performances. At Monday's opening, his "cover," or understudy, John Mac Master, struggled to make it through the five-hour-long performance. So for Friday night's second outing, the Met turned to the second cover, Gary Lehman, a former baritone who had never sung the role onstage before.
But Lehman came with some good advance buzz — he had drawn favorable attention in 2005 when he stepped in at a moment's notice for Placido Domingo in the title role of Wagner's "Parsifal" at the Los Angeles Opera.
And from the moment he appeared on the Met stage, he took control of the role, with a strong presence — enhanced by his tall, relatively trim figure — and a sturdy tenor that projected well into the vast auditorium.
Still, Act 1 is not a true test for Tristan, since he has relatively little to sing. So the audience was waiting eagerly to see how he would fare in the 40-minute love duet that comprises the core of Act 2 and has brought many a tenor to grief.
And that's when the night's biggest shock arrived.
Voigt, who had struggled with both pitch and breath support during Act 1, suddenly rushed offstage just as the lovers were supposed to be settling in for a night of rapture.
James Levine kept conducting the orchestra for a minute or so even after the curtain slowly came down, and Lehman could be heard faintly singing his next lines. Then the music stopped, and a Met official came out to announce that Voigt had been taken ill but that her cover, Janice Baird, was literally waiting in the wings and would be out shortly.
Sure enough, after about 15 minutes the curtain rose again, and the audience warmly applauded the two lovers onstage together.
For opera fans with a sense of history, it was an amazing sight — two singers making unplanned Met debuts together in the lead roles of one of the most daunting operas in the repertory.
...Calling all Vietnamese musical talent
2008-03-16 11:00:13.585957
) This year's Cong Hien Music Awards will recognize the country's favourite stars. HA NOI - Major players in Viet Nam's music industry will be stepping onto the stage at the 2007 Cong Hien (Devotion) Music Awards this April to accept some of the
Carrie Underwood to join Grand Ole Opry (AP)
2008-03-16 02:00:14.803271
2 hours, 34 minutes ago
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Carrie Underwood will become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry after she was invited Saturday to join the long-running country music show.Randy Travis extended the invitation as Underwood finished "I Told You So," a Travis song that Underwood recorded on her latest album.
Her official induction will be May 10.
The former "American Idol" winner sold 7 million copies of her debut album "Some Hearts" and shot to superstardom almost overnight with hits including "Before He Cheats" and "Jesus, Take the Wheel."
Her follow-up album, "Carnival Ride," came out last fall and has produced two No. 1s: "So Small" and her current single "All-American Girl."
Underwood said backstage that the invitation was a complete surprise.
"I felt like I just won something amazing all over again," she said. "The Opry has meant so much to me growing up, seeing people perform and wanting to do that."
Underwood, 25, becomes the latest young hitmaker to become an Opry member in recent years, joining Brad Paisley, Josh Turner and Dierks Bentley.
The Opry, established in 1925, is the longest continuously running radio show in the country. Legends such as Hank Williams Sr. and Patsy Cline were once members of the cast, and contemporary stars including Alan Jackson and Martina McBride are part of today's show, which airs every Friday and Saturday night on WSM-AM.
Opry management says artists are invited to join based on their commitment to the show, as measured by the frequency of their guest appearances, and their overall contribution to country music.
Email Story IM Story...Gossip blogger shows music power at SXSW (AP)
2008-03-16 15:00:12.32507
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer Sun Mar 16, 12:18 PM ET
AUSTIN, Texas - Last year, when gossip blogger Perez Hilton came to South by Southwest, he was just a spectator.This year, he arrived as one of the music industry's key playmakers — and his newfound power was on full display as he played host to one of the festival's more coveted parties.
"Thank you Perez!" Robyn, the Swedish-born pop star who is releasing an album in the United States this summer, gushed on stage Saturday night as she performed in front of a packed crowd filled with industry insiders, artists, and the typical hangers-on. Even more people lined the block around the venue in downtown Austin, hoping for a chance to see acts ranging from Internet darling Katy Perry to established artists such as Robyn and N.E.R.D.
"There's a lot of great acts performing these past couple of days, but not all on the same stage on the same night," boasted Hilton, sporting bleached blond hair with streaks of pink, in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday. "The musicians performing speak for the evening."
They also speak to Hilton's ever-increasing clout within the music industry. While his site routinely posts salacious details about perennial gossip targets like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and the crew from "The Hills," he also regularly gushes about his favorite artists and songs — like Robyn.
Numerous articles have been written crediting Hilton (real name Mario Lavandeira) for helping to boost an artist's sales and profile from his postings: The New York Times reported last month that Warner Bros. Records was in negotiations to give Hilton a development deal that would make him an executive on the label.
"It's very flattering," Hilton said with a smile about all the attention.
So, not surprisingly, Hilton lined up a few key artists to perform at his party. The biggest act was undoubtedly N.E.R.D., the trio led by superproducer Pharrell Williams, who said Hilton's site is a key outlet for groups such as his.
"He's connected to the kids, he's connected to our demographic — people who want to be in the know, and he's opinionated and that's what makes it work," Williams said after spending a few minutes chatting with Hilton a celebrity lounge Friday.
Hilton's ability to create buzz for an artist is hard to duplicate, Perry said.
"Managers in the industry want their acts to be featured on his blog because it does give a lot of press, and hopefully good press sometimes," she said with a laugh. "He's got some pretty good ears. He's featured myself and some friends of mine so we're grateful."
Not everyone is happy about Hilton's success. As popular as his showcase may have been, there were some at SXSW who grumbled about the fact that a gossip maven has decision-making power in the industry.
...Heretic Pride
2008-03-16 23:00:17.148202
Login or Register to rate this item. On the last two Mountain Goats albums, singer/guitarist John Darnielle exchanged the densely detailed character studies of his earlier records for an introspective account of his troubled childhood. Here he returns to
Hip hop grows at South by Southwest festival
2008-03-16 16:00:15.972427
AUSTIN -- South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players, metal acts and even some country artists. But hip-hop? Not so much. That's been changing thanks
Hip hop's next big thing has clothes to prove it
2008-03-16 10:00:14.266026
Up-and-coming hip hop star Teyana Taylor has style in spades. Click to see her get ready for her album showcase at Marquee. Fans of Teyana Taylor first got to know her signature style on MTV's 'My Super Sweet 16.' When the Harlem-born aspiring
Hip-Hop Grows at South by Southwest
2008-03-16 06:00:13.725343
South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players, metal acts and even some country artists. But hip-hop? Not so much. That's been changing thanks to SXSW
Hip-Hop grows at South by Southwest
2008-03-16 00:00:14.521485
South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players, metal acts and even some country artists. But hip-hop? Not so much.That's been changing thanks to SXSW
Hip-Hop grows at South by Southwest (AP)
2008-03-16 06:00:13.718879
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
AUSTIN, Texas - South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players, metal acts and even some country artists. But hip-hop? Not so much.That's been changing thanks to SXSW music programmer Matt Sonzala, who has worked steadily to increase the profile of rap at the festival, which hosts hundreds and hundreds of acts each year. Among the 150 hip-hop performers at this year's event include Ice Cube, Bun B, The Clipse, Dizzee Rascal, 2 Live Crew, Talib Kweli, and the Cool Kids.
"Honestly I didn't know too much about this, and people would say, 'What — you don't know what that is? ... If you don't go, you trippin'!'" said Del the Funky Homosapien, playing SXSW for the first time this year. "That's when I started realizing."
While the genres at SXSW have always been varied, it is more known for its rock. But with the growth of Southern rap, especially Houston's burgeoning rap scene, Sonzala felt something needed to be done about the dearth of hip-hop at the festival.
"Early on, I was trying to get artists to come down," Sonzala, who has been working for SXSW for five years, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Most of the people I brought were from Houston."
Getting more mainstream artists and those from other regions proved to be more challenging.
"When I would talk to the labels," he said, "people would tell me things like, 'Why would I send my artists to that hippie festival? Why would I send them to this rock festival?"
But once labels started seeing the benefit of playing the SXSW — including garnering key publicity and making key industry contacts — Sonzala doesn't have that much of a problem anymore.
"I guess word of mouth, they see what it is, it's really the world's biggest music festival," he said. "Word has just spread."
Groundbreaking Houston rapper Bun B, who along with the late Pimp C was part of the group U.G.K., said he reached out to acts like Kweli and Banner to appear this year. He said for many rappers, SXSW wasn't on their radar: "(But) I think it absolutely should be."
Besides increasing rap's profile on the key music festival circuit, Bun B said SXSW has helped him understand how broad his fan base is.
"You don't even know where you register on that scale sometimes," he said.
...Lehman earns 2nd chance as Met's Tristan (AP)
2008-03-16 20:00:15.275007
2 hours, 59 minutes ago
NEW YORK - Tenor Gary Lehman earned a second chance to sing in "Tristan und Isolde" at the Metropolitan Opera.Two days after Lehman made his Met debut as Tristan in place of ailing Ben Heppner, the Met said Sunday that Lehman also will sing in Tuesday night's performance.
The tenor for next Saturday's matinee, which will be transmitted in high-definition to theaters around the world, remains TBA.
Soprano Deborah Voigt is scheduled to return Tuesday after leaving Friday night's performance in the middle of the second act due to a stomach ailment. She was replaced by her cover singer, Janice Baird, who made her Met debut.
Heppner, sidelined by a virus, hopes to return for the final two performances of the revival, on March 25 and 28. Because Heppner and Voigt were to have been singing "Tristan" together for the first time, the six-performance run was close to sold out.
Capping a week of shuffling at the Met, soprano Ruth Ann Swenson came down with the flu and was replaced Saturday night by Ermonela Jaho, who made her company debut as Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata."
___
On the Net:
http://www.metopera.org
Email Story IM Story Printable View...My Morning Jacket
2008-03-16 13:00:14.647347
Over the course of about a decade, [ tickets ] blossomed from an inconsistent but intriguing indie band into one of the last great hopes of the major labels. The arrival of 'Z' in 2005 was a watershed moment for the group, lifting it to the status of an
National Hip-Hop Team Vote 2008 Campaign to Be Launched in Pennsylvania
2008-03-16 19:00:13.591564
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Hip-Hop Research and Education Fund, PowerPAC and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network announced today the launch of an unprecedented, focused national campaign to mobilize the hip-hop generation of youth voters to ensure the
Number Of Hip-Hop Acts At South By Southwest Continues To Grow With Ice Cube, David Banner
2008-03-16 17:00:11.569084
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - South by Southwest has always been known as a music festival that flourishes with indie-rock bands, singer-songwriter types, classic blues players, metal acts and even some country artists. But hip-hop? Not so much. That's been
Report revives Beatles-on-iTunes talk
2008-03-16 03:00:14.233735
UK newspaper claims that McCartney has signed off on deal, but all parties involved refuse to confirm. Digital music's version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf got another chapter over the weekend. The long-rumored deal between Apple and the Beatles to bring
Rilo Kiley preps North American trek
2008-03-16 12:00:14.780663
Pop-rockers Rilo Kiley [ tickets ] have assembled another round of North American tour dates to support their latest release, 'Under the Black Light.'The outing, which rolls out April 17 in San Francisco, will see the band headlining clubs and theaters
STAND AGAINST VIOLENCE IN POP MUSIC
2008-03-16 16:00:15.97066
In St Vincent, citizens protested the appearance of Gansta fah Life singer, Movado, causing the Commissioner of Police to deny a permit for him to perform there. In Trinidad, recently, after the killing of one school boy by another, one Port-of-Spain DJ,
Scholar: New Mozart Portrait Identified (AP)
2008-03-16 19:00:13.074124
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer 42 minutes ago
LONDON - A British music scholar says he has identified a previously unknown portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that could be worth millions.The 19-by-14-inch oil painting shows the profile of a man in a bright red jacket. Cliff Eisen said Friday that it is only the fourth known authentic portrait of Mozart from his time when the composer was at his professional height in Vienna, Austria.
"This is arguably the most important Mozart portrait to be discovered since the composer's death in 1791," Eisen said in a statement that appeared on the Web site of King's College London, where he teaches music.
King's College said the portrait was probably painted by Joseph Hickel, who was a painter at Austria's imperial court. Hickel gave the portrait to Mozart in return for the composition of a serenade for a member of Hickel's family, the college said.
Eisen said he was able to authenticate the portrait by comparing it against auction records, archival documents and a letter written by composer to his father in 1782.
The description in Mozart's letter matched the portrait down to the buttons, Eisen said.
The portrait could be worth several million dollars, the university said.
The painting passed to the family of Johann Lorenz Hagenauer, a close friend of the Mozarts. It was purchased by an American collector in 2005.
King's College said the collector was unaware of the painting's significance until its connection to the Hagenauer family was established by Daniel Leeson of Los Altos, Calif.
___
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/
...Scholar: New Mozart portrait identified
2008-03-16 05:00:27.219634
A British music scholar says he has identified a previously unknown portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that could be worth millions. The 19-by-14-inch oil painting shows the profile of a man in a bright red jacket. Cliff Eisen said Friday that it is
Snoop Dogg to Remix ABC Soap Opera Theme
2008-03-16 22:00:14.958284
Snoop Dogg is bringing some street cred to 'One Life to Live.' The 36-year-old rapper will make an extended cameo on the ABC soap opera to perform two songs from his new album, 'Ego Trippin',' at the Ultra Violet club in the town of Llanview, the network
Spears pal to stay away 30 more days (AP)
2008-03-16 20:00:14.365659
By JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 38 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears' friend Sam Lutfi has agreed to stay away from her for at least another month, delaying a hearing that could have made a restraining order against him permanent, The Associated Press learned Sunday.Lutfi and conservators for Spears' estate agreed to have the restraining order extended for 30 days, said a person close to the pop star who spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension had not yet been formally approved.
A judge was expected to approve it Monday.
Lutfi did not immediately return a phone message Sunday seeking comment. Phone messages and e-mails to lawyers for Spears and her estate co-conservators, which include her father, also were not immediately returned.
A Superior Court commissioner last month ordered Lutfi to stay 250 yards from Spears and her home.
Spears' mother, Lynne, requested the order based on allegations that Lufti — Spears' frequent companion and sometime manager — had held the singer hostage in her own home, drugged her and taken over her finances.
Spears' father, James, was named one of two co-conservators of her estate after the singer was hospitalized twice in January. The conservatorship has been extended until July 31.
Conservatorships are granted for people deemed unable to take care of themselves or their affairs.
Before her hospitalization, Spears had shown increasingly erratic behavior. She shaved her head, was seen in public without underwear, ran over a celebrity photographer's foot and attacked a vehicle with an umbrella.
Spears has since had very limited contact with her toddler sons who are under the sole physical and legal custody of her ex-husband, Kevin Federline.
Email Story...St. Patrick's Soundtrack
2008-03-16 07:00:12.808038
The Irish have give us more than just luck, leprechauns and shamrocks. The Emerald Isle is the birthplace of some of the world's most famous writers (James Joyce,) poets (W.B. Yeats,) actors (Colin Farrell) and musicians. This St. Patrick's Day, while
St. Patrick's Soundtrack 2 hours ago
2008-03-16 06:00:13.723611
The Irish have give us more than just luck, leprechauns and shamrocks. The Emerald Isle is the birthplace of some of the world's most famous writers (James Joyce,) poets (W.B. Yeats,) actors (Colin Farrell) and musicians. This St. Patrick's Day, while
Star cooks up more than food at SXSW (AP)
2008-03-16 14:00:14.730279
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer 2 hours, 39 minutes ago
AUSTIN, Texas - Of all the sponsored events at the South by Southwest music festival, Rachael Ray's artist showcase may have been the most puzzling.After all, Ray is the cherub-faced, perky cook and host of her own daytime TV show — and there she was at SXSW playing host to edgy acts like The Raveonettes.
Ray brushed aside the idea that her presence at SXSW, which ended Sunday, was out of place.
"I guess people think that I just live in a kitchen but I love music, every type of music," she told The Associated Press as she cooled off from the Texas heat in an air-conditioned bus.
"I listen to jazz, my husband and I go to the opera a few times a year, we both love indie rock, go to a lot of indie rock shows. It's not surprising to me," she continued. "I know that I'm more than just a cook. I think that's why people probably thought it was so weird but I married a man who has an indie-rock band, so how is it that weird when you really think about it?"
That band, The Cringe (led by her hubby John Cusimano), were among the performers at Ray's showcase, which had people lined outside the door waiting to get in. But music wasn't the only draw: after all, Ray's claim to fame is her cooking.
So, she made up three recipes for the event, including a seven-layer slider and a vegetarian macaroni and cheese, which were among the dishes served up to the packed crowd.
Though this was Ray's first time at SXSW, she's a regular to the city of Austin: "I think of every excuse in the world to come back."
"I've also loved Austin because it's the live music capitol of the world," she added. "I've always come down and made sure that I go out and listen to different music, so it's great to see that kind of on steroids."
Email Story IM Story...The Game Gets Released from Jail
2008-03-16 05:00:27.217924
After only serving eight days of his sixty-day sentence, rap icon The Game was released from the Twin Towers Correctional Facility last Sunday. The Compton, California native began his sentence Monday, March 3rd. Last month, he pleaded guilty to counts
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