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Ja Rule and Foster The People‘s namesake, Mark, don’t have a birthday this year thanks to no February 29 on the Gregorian calendar this year. Our kind hearts (and fat fingers) can’t deny anyone an occasion for cake, so today’s Friday Face-Off goes out to those unlucky leap year babes. Read more…
Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t. After taking a deep-dive into this year’s VH1.com streaming data, we’ve come up with a list of the Top 40 Most-Watched Videos of 2012. All you favorites are below, and there are even some underdog surprises that we didn’t expect to rank so favorably. So yeah, consider this an early New Year’s gift, and start re-living all the music video glory that took place in this incredible year of the apocalypse.
40. Gavin DeGraw “Sweeter”
39. The Fray “Heartbeat”
38. Gym Class Heroes “The Fighter featuring Ryan Tedder”
37. Bruno Mars “Grenade”
36. Adam Lambert “Never Close Our Eyes”
35. Daughtry “Crawling Back To You”
34. Tamia “Beautiful Surprise”
33. Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
32. Ellie Goulding “Lights”
31. David Guetta “Titanium (Ft. Sia)”
We hate to say we told you so, but… we told you so! All year we’ve been bringing you the best new music so you can stay aurally informed, and if you’ve been doing your homework and keeping abreast of the hottest new acts with us, you’ll notice that more than a few of our amazing You Oughta Know artists, both past and present, scored well-deserved props when the 2013 Grammy Nominees were announced tonight.
Our You Oughta Know alumni scored an impressive 17 nominations in total, including four nominations in the big four categories. Our February 2012 YOK artist Gotye picked up a nomination for Record Of The Year for his song “Somebody I Used To Know,” a song that he performed for a standing room only crowd in our 20th floor lobby earlier this year; our May 2012 You Oughta Know artist Ed Sheeran scored a nomination for Song Of The Year for his haunting ballad “The A Team”; our July pick, The Lumineers, were nominated for Best New Artist; and our YOK friends from way back in 2010, Mumford & Sons, picked up a nod in the Album Of The Year category for their massive new LP, Babel.
Here’s a complete list of the 2013 Grammy nominations that our awesome YOK alums took home tonight. #proud
Read more…
STEPHEN COLBERT BOOKS HIS SECOND ANNUAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
Set this year aboard the USS Intrepid, StePhest Colbchella ’012: Rockaugustfest will push off on August 10 with Santigold, Grizzly Bear, the Flaming Lips and fun. all aboard. “I love fun.,” says Colbert. [Spin] Read more…
Who doesn’t love blue jeans? Both the ones you wear and the “Blue Jeans” tune by Lana Del Rey you turn on when drowning your sorrows over a love lost. In the umpteenth (who’s counting anyway?) remix, Azealia Banks jumps on the track adding her “212″ flavor in an uptempo dance track. Indie pop band members of Foster the People, Mark Foster and Isom Innis, released the remix as a part of their DJ project Smims& Belle. It’s a stark difference between the original that has the power to make you feel the lyrics. Imagine the night Samantha from Sex and the City went to the club and popped an ecstasy pill. We could totally hear this version of “Blue Jeans” playing in a club under similar circumstances.
Banks’ speed raps about being a bad girl and liking a bad boy. How gangster. There’s a certain type of party one could zone out to while grooving to this electro-pop. But for those of us who don’t go to raves (hey, no judgment), we’d love to hear this pair on a track that sounds a little like the soulful Lana Del Rey we’ve become accustomed to. Just a little. Read more…
Foster The People‘s debut album, Torches, was released on May 23 last year. In that time, the album has spawned one certifiable smash (“Pumped Up Kicks”, which Best Pop/Vocal Duo Performance Grammy this past year) and three other singles that all performed well on the charts, particularly “Don’t Stop (Color On The Walls)” (which has been hanging around the upper reaches of our VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown since its release in December). Aside from all of the accolades and the sold-out shows, the band found themselves as an answer on a recent episode of Jeopardy, so what more could they ask for?
Well, from the looks of their new video for “Houdini” —the fifth single off Torches— it seems like what the band is in need most of is a break. The video begins with Mark Foster and his People shooting a music video on a soundstage (meta, right?). Well, the party comes to a crashing halt, quite literally, when a beam comes hurtling down from the rafters and crushes the band to a pulp. Well, we all know the first rule of showbiz is that “The show must go on”; in this case, that truism applies even when the band is, well, dead. A mysterious group of Japanese businessmen —it’s important to note that the band is on Columbia Records, a subdivision of Sony— arrive on the scene, and utilize a combination of CGI, robotics and human puppeteers to film a video and put on a concert with the now deceased members of Foster The People, Weekend At Bernie’s style, with the audience presumably being none the wiser. It’s certainly a bite-the-hand-that-feeds-you kind of statement from the former You Oughta Know group, but one that’s also playful and well-directed. Hopefully, after being worked to the bone for the last year and change, the guys will get to get some time to take a much-deserved vacay this summer.
If you’ve been in front of a computer with a working Internet connection today you’re probably aware that Bonnaroo has announced the line up for this year’s festival, and that everyone is getting a little breathy and excited about it. And why not — the lineup is absolutely out of this world, with huge names Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish, The Beach Boys, Grammy winners Bon Iver, The Avett Brothers and The Shins headlining the festival. While we’re a bit perplexed as to why the legendary Beach Boys are billed fourth (we can understand Radiohead as a firm first, but surely The Beach Boys have more clout on a lineup than Red Hot Chili Peppers or Phish, especially as they’ve reunited to tour this year?), it’s hard to maintain any kind of indignation with such a fun lineup.
The big names appear next to some pretty “of the moment” new comers, including our You Oughta Know artists Foster The People (could this be Grammys round 2, performing with The Beach Boys again perchance?), The Civil Wars, Dawes and Fitz & The Tantrums (we LOVE to say we told ya so!). There’s also the dub act that’s taken the USA by storm, Grammy winner Skrillex, oldies but goodies like The Roots, Alice Cooper, Ludacris and Ben Folds Five. And is anyone as excited about the Black Star comeback as we are?? Hype acts on the list include Childish Gambino, 2011′s lauded tUnE-yArDs, St. Vincent, SBTRKT, Kendrick Lamar, Kurt Vile, EMA and Das Racist to name but a few! Bonnaroo might just have the leg up on the other festivals — sure Coachella has a hype-led lineup with a smattering of superstar at the top of the bill and SXSW is ready to introduce us to the hottest new talent, but Bonnaroo seems to balance the classic and timeless with still relevant veterans and hyped new names across genres. Basically, Bonnaroo’s got something for everyone.
Bonnaroo tickets go on sale February 18th at 12 p.m. EST.
[Photos: Getty Images]
Grammy fever is surging ahead of Sunday’s awards ceremony. And if this latest announcement doesn’t get you giddy with excitement, then we’re afraid nothing can help you. The surviving members of The Beach Boys will perform for the first time in over 20 years at the Grammys — and will be joined by Maroon 5 and Foster The People! Knowing our excitement at merely playing witness to the iconic occasion, we can only imagine the pure happiness that the Foster boys and Maroon 5 must be feeling to be included in what will surely be a moment to remember.
The Beach Boys lineup will include Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Mark, and in addition to the Grammys, The Boys will be touring and recording a new album. Of the reunion, Brian Wilson said, “I miss the boys and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them again.” The Beach Boys will be joining a legendary cast of performers for what is set to be a spectacular Grammys stage, including Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Adele, a duet from Coldplay and Rihanna, Foo Fighters, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Bruno Mars and Jason Aldean.
Beach Boys Reunion Begins at Grammys, With Foster the People & Maroon 5 [Billboard]
[Photos: Getty Images]
Pazz + Jop, The Village Voice‘s annual music poll that aggregates the opinions of thousands of music critics based on their votes for single and album of the year, has just been released, and it’s very similar to all the other ‘Best Of 2011′ lists we’ve read. That is to say, there aren’t really any surprises, maybe just a slight reshuffling of the order. In that vein, Adele appears on both lists, with 21 ranking at number 6 for albums, and “Rolling In The Deep,” and “Someone Like You,” featuring at number one and nine respectively on the singles list.
Perhaps the most unexpected thing about the lists is the order itself — while Adele sits snugly where she’s always sat, several pop stars have found their way into Pazz + Jop’s top ten singles, where other end of year lists had them pulling up the ranks much further down the line. For instance, Beyoncé‘s “Countdown” makes it to number two on the singles list, with Nicki Minaj‘s “Super Bass” at number three and Britney Spears’ “Til The World Ends” at number seven. All in all, however, the top 10 singles featured the usual suspects, from Azealia Banks, Jay-Z and Kayne West, M83, Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator and Foster The People, there was nothing particularly shocking about the ballot-topping artists.
It was a similar story in the albums list, which, as already mentioned, saw Adele near the top, followed closely by Bon Iver‘s Bon Iver at number nine. Perhaps of a slightly “buzzier” lien than the singles, the albums list saw critically acclaimed tUnE-yArDs‘, w h o k i l l come in at number one, with PJ Harvey‘s fawned over artwork, Let England Shake at number two, and Wild Flag‘s unexpected success, Wild Flag, at number four. Jay-Z and Kayne West, Destroyer, Drake, Tom Waits and Shabazz Palaces also make the top ten albums but again, no surprises other than ranking — these are names we heard all through 2011 and that at the end of the year were plastered across the lists we saw online in both blogs and music industry and expert websites.
Pazz + Jop [The Village Voice]
While speculation around Adele’s possible Grammy performance has been causing a flutter, several other artists have been officially announced as performers for the prestigious music industry ceremony. Playing at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards (airing February 12) will be nominees the Foo Fighters (six nominations), Nicki Minaj (four nominations), Taylor Swift (three nominations), Kelly Clarkson (one nomination), Bruno Mars (six nominations) and Jason Aldean (three nominations).
These artists have been announced as the “first” performers on the Grammy’s website, which means that there’s still hope that big names like Adele (six nominations), Kanye West (who has the most nominations of all, with seven nods), and Lady Gaga (three nominations) will perform on the night. Even though there are rumors abounding that Adele will play, she’s still recovering from throat surgery, so we’ve got our money on Lady Gaga to be announced as a performer given her strong presence and dedication to the stage, evidenced by her complete saturation of 2011. We’d also like to see our You Oughta Know artist Foster The People (2 nominations) take to the stage, as they were the dark horse of the previous year, their tracks “Pumped Up Kicks,” and “Helena Beat” bringing up the rear to find an overwhelmingly positive critical reception.
Foo Fighters, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift Playing the Grammys [Spin]
[Photos: Getty Images]
VH1 Presents Mixtape Festival: Train, NKOTB, TLC, The Script + more! Tickets on sale now at MixtapeFestival.com!
