Posts By Zara Golden

September 17th, 2012 | 10:14 am by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Frank Ocean Plays “Pyramids” With John Mayer And Vintage Video Games On Saturday Night Live

Frank Ocean kicked off Saturday Night Live‘s 15th season with two stellar showings. As predicted, he performed a stripped down and extra-soulful “Thinkin Bout You” and then the second half of his stripper anthem “Pyramids,” his “bro” John Mayer accompanying on the guitar for both and a full vintage arcade set up behind him. Ocean still seems a little timid when he performs, and sort of like he did in that oddly straight-faced promo, he fidgeted nervously through the first verse of “Thinkin Bout You.” He’s good, though, and so as soon as he loosened up he was able to turn song’s difficult high notes sweet.

Already warmed up, he showed off a little more swag during “Pyramids,” showing some teeth and pulling a few dance moves. And when Mayer went in on his loopy solo (extra guitar face so you know it’s real), Ocean made use of the time to fiddle with some of those vintage arcade games before giving the crowd one last smile and calling it a night.

Watch “Thinkin Bout You” above, and “Pyramids” and the video game playing below.

September 14th, 2012 | 4:00 pm by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

The Weeknd Finally Goes Major, Releases A New Version Of “Wicked Games,” Teases New Album

To say that The Weeknd, the shadowy and affected R&B project of Toronto’s Abel Tesfaye, has “buzz” would be to significantly undercut his last two years. Bolstered by a major cosign from Drake, who posted about him on his OVO blog and then featured him prominently on Take Care, and the success of his Florence + The Machine and Lady Gaga remixes, he’s gone from a specter on the Internet to an “Must See” act at all the summer’s big festivals and “must sign” on every record exec’s list. Well, three chillingly good self-released mixtapes and a seat saved next to Diddy later, he’s finally been got.

Earlier this week, Tesfaye announced that he will be re-releasing his trio of 2011 Weeknd mixtapes (House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence), mixed and mastered, as Trilogy with the backing of Universal Republic on November 13th. Additionally, he says he’s back in the studio working on bonus tracks — “New music for my fans” — for his major label debut. Read more…

September 14th, 2012 | 3:03 pm by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Two Door Cinema Club Earn Their Credentials With A Swelling Cover Of The Jurassic Park Theme Song

You Oughta Know Artists past Two Door Cinema Club dug deep into their musical pasts this week during a session with BBC Radio 1′s Zane Lowe for two unexpected covers: Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman” and the epic Jurassic Park theme song. “I spent my teenage years learning all of Metallica’s songs,” Alex Trimble said, realizing only after admitting that his “guitar skills came from Metallica” what he had gotten himself into. At the urging of Lowe, Trimble recalls the shredding “Enter Sandman” guitar riff and the rest of the band joins him in a little heavy metal jam. Eventually Lowe jumps in on the vocals, but because he sounds not bad but also not exactly like James Hatfield, they opt to cut things short and cover the Jurassic Park theme song instead.

September 14th, 2012 | 1:12 pm by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Frank Ocean Saves It All For The Show In New Saturday Night Live Promo

You might say that Frank Ocean is playing it extra-cool in the promo video for his upcoming appearance on Saturday Night Life. Fred Armisen and host Seth MacFarlane play nice together in the video, dueling their various funny voices and making small talk. As for Ocean, he whiles away the short promo, scratching his chin, nodding his head a few times — in agreement or to keep awake? — and rolling his eyes at the Family Guy creator. His only line? “Not cool, Seth.” Arriving on the scene as the sweet singing elder (though hardly old) member of the wily rap crew Odd Future, Ocean has always struck us as a many of few but poignant words, and so we have to assume that he really meant something by each of those three words. We’ll just have to tune in to Ocean’s “bro”-ified SNL debut tomorrow to find out what.

Watch Frank Ocean Keep His Mouth Shut in New SNL Promos [Vulture]

September 14th, 2012 | 12:13 pm by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Green Day Rock Kick Things Into High Gear On Good Morning America

¡Uno!‘s arrival is just two weeks out, and Green Day have kicked things into high gear, dropping videos and performing new material in order to build anticipation before then. Bright and early this morning they played on the roof of Good Morning America, high above Times Square, for a crowd that began gathering late last night. Their four song set included some new (“Oh Love” and “Stay The Night”), some classic (“Holiday” and “Basket Case”), at least one “FREE PUSSY RIOT” cry and a lovely moment during the last act of “Oh Love” where Billie Joe Armstrong’s yell-singing turned sing-songy for a few notes. Check out their performances below, and look for ¡Uno! on September 25th.

“Oh Love”

September 14th, 2012 | 11:00 am by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Behind The Song: Train Say “Drops Of Jupiter” Was “The Spark That Got Us Global”

VH1′s Behind The Music kicks off a new season of storytelling this Sunday with Behind The Music: Train, and for this 15th Anniversary round we hope to do you even better by taking you Behind The Song, as well. Posted as an online exclusive ahead of each full episode, Behind The Song will dig deep into the story behind the celebrated artist’s biggest hit or most monumental song. First up, we have Behind The Song: Train’s “Drops of Jupiter,” the song that “was the spark that got us global.”

Deep into recording their sophomore album and still without a single, Train’s lead singer Pat Monahan was struck by a dream about his late mother. “She was swimming through the planets and came to me with drops of Jupiter in her hair,” says Monahan, who woke up with the “back in the atmosphere” line running through his head and the single that would launch Train to multi-platinum status well in the works. From his bed to the studio, the song picked up that “bounce, more of a potentially pop radio sound,” Monahan says, and before they knew it, Train was picking up Grammys (“We were nominated for a Grammy. A few Grammys. Like, five.”) and performing in front of the likes of Bono. “’Drops of Jupiter’ was definitely a gift,” Monahan says.

Be sure to tune-in when Behind The Music: Train premieres on Sunday, September 16 at 9/8c on VH1. Read more…

September 14th, 2012 | 10:29 am by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Tuned In: Justin Bieber, Big Sean and Ne-Yo Show Battle Lasers On America’s Got Talent Finale

This season of America’s Got Talent went out with a great big and certainly talented bang last night, with Canadian Justin Bieber and Big Sean hitting the stage for a monstrous performance of their “As Long As You Love Me” and Ne-Yo battling lasers to show us why he should “Let Me Love You.”

Justin’s stage set looked like O-Town’s “Liquid Dreams” set (or maybe a little like a Bose iPod doc), and — lasers, an army of dancers, and metallic galore — the performance was a real event. Justin has been performing “As Long As You Love Me” since Believe‘s release back in June, and at last he seems comfortable nailing the dance moves and hitting the high notes at the same time. They also let him have a moment with one of the female dancers. #stillkidrauhl, maybe, but Kid Rauhl’s growing up. Read more…

September 13th, 2012 | 6:00 pm by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Watch this Sneak Peak Of Behind The Music: Train

VH1′s Behind The Music kicks off a new season of storytelling this Sunday with a spotlight on Train, the quintessential American band. Tune-in to VH1 on Sunday at 9/8c to hear the rest of their story, but first whet your taste with this special sneak peak of the show’s first act.

These days, San Francisco’s hardest working band have it pretty good. Back on tour in support of their 6th album, California 37, we meet them in the back of a van where they are enjoying their success and each other’s company. It wasn’t always like this, though, and as we learn in these first few moments about Train’s rough beginnings, they had to overcome struggle and obscurity before they could bask these sunny “Hey Soul Sister” days. “I said, ‘Look, the path to success is going to suck, man, but you have to do it,’” Pat Monahan says, “I had to believe I was going to be a star.”

Be sure to tune-in when Behind The Music: Train premieres on Sunday, September 16 at 9/8c on VH1. Read more…

September 13th, 2012 | 5:16 pm by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

P!nk And Lily Allen School Us In “True Love”

Like much of what we’ve heard from the album so far, this latest Truth About Love offers a lesson in love. Again P!nk‘s hurting, but instead of walking out the door like she does in “Blow Me” or putting in overtime like with “Try,” this round she’s writing the troubles and frustration off as side-effects of “True Love.”"I hate you, I really hate you,” she sings over the jaunty beat, letting a beat bounce by before she finishes: “so much, it must be true love,” because “no one else can break my heart like you.” Did you think this would be easy? Truth About Love officially hits shelves and digital music libraries next Tuesday, and we’re already feeling pretty schooled.

Produced by the legendary Greg Kurstin, “True Love” notably features the first bit we’ve heard from Lily Allen since her 2009 “retirement” (and the first we’ve ever heard from Lily Rose Cooper). Unfortunately, she only appears for a brief verse towards the end of the song, more a preview than a grand return. That said, she sounds in fine form turning sharp lines like “why do you rub me up the wrong way” while sounding sweet as ever. Read more…

September 13th, 2012 | 3:12 pm by Zara Golden (@zaragolden)

Like Blossom and Six, Nicki Minaj And Cassie Teach “The Boys” A Lesson

Nicki Minaj announced earlier this week that she would be re-releaseing Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded as The Re-Up this November, and that the first of “lots of new songs on there” would be out this week. Then, during a tweeted question-and-answer session about the re-up, she let slip that she would be joined by another woman for the first single, and teased that “she’s real pretty.” “The Boys,” the promised single, premiered today on iTunes, and Bad Boy’s Cassie is featured on the hook. So it looks like Nicki meant it, this time, when she said her collaborator would be “real pretty,” eh?

Returned from the arms of Diddy to the studio, Cassie sings here of a world where the boys are “always spending all their money on love,” lamenting also that “diamond watches and a gold chain can’t make my frown turn around.” And she would know. Meanwhile with Cassie sultry on the hook, Nicki is relieved of pop-star duties and free to go in as she pleases. Leaning into the lazer-riddled, marching band beat, she spits to the boys: “I told Nicki be chillin/ I’ma keep hurtin’ your feelings/ Because you could never be Jordan/ You couldn’t even be Pippen.” She’ll keep her real pretty friend, though: “You made dusty/ You a lil dusty possum/ I come through with the Six like my name was Blossom.”