Tag: "Paul McCartney"

In case you missed it last week, Nirvana reunited and Paul McCartney is the new Kurt Cobain… Okay, maybe not quite, but Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic did perform together for the first time in 20 years, joined by Pat Smear on guitar and Macca on vocals. The group had been jamming together just for fun and ended up writing a song called “Cut Me Some Slack,” which they premiered at last week’s 12/12/12 Hurricane Sandy benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Apparently the song was also written and recorded for the soundtrack of Grohl’s Sound City documentary. I have to admit, it’s not the most impressive work by these musicians. Listen to it below and see what you think:

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Last night, hundreds of celebrities came together, as they so frequently do, for a benefit event at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The purpose of the 12/12/12 concert was to raise money for the victims and survivors of Hurricane Sandy as well as provide hope and support for those still struggling. Performers included Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Roger Waters, Adam Sandler with Paul Schaffer, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Alicia Keys, The Who, Kanye West, Billy Joel, Chris Martin of Coldplay, and probably the most talked-about performance of the night, Paul McCartney with the surviving members of Nirvana for their first reunion in twenty years.

According to Billboard, it was a powerful night of poignant entertainment, as many of the performers were from the New York/New Jersey area and chose songs that specifically related to the event. Springsteen did a Medley of “My City In Ruins,” “Working On A Building,” and Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl.” His songs all hit home as did Adam Sandler’s comical rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” entitled “Sandy Screw Ya.” Click the links below to watch of some of these highlight acts.

Paul McCartney with Pat Smear and Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novaselic

Adam Sandler Performing “Sandy Screw Ya” (Rewrite of “Hallelujah”)

ABC News Concert Recap

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• L(atin)MFAO
• Nicki takes us back to high school.
• Macca the vegetarian.
• If only One Direction were cast in Star Wars for real.
• Franco, Lohan, and R.E.M.
• That’s right, Mumford.

Sure, there was some kind of election or something last week—at least we think that’s what we heard coming out of the mouths of the TV pundits. Honestly, we kind of stopped paying attention after a while, at least until the news broke about a truly earth-shattering political breakthrough. While the rest of the world was focused on whichever one of those guys with the suits and ties walked away with the prize, we were captivated by a revolutionary piece of legislation that proved to be election night’s biggest surprise: the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Washington and Colorado. While this monumental move has been the dream of stoners all over America for decades, it must be assumed that the passing of what we like to call The Bong Bill will be most widely celebrated in the realm of rock ‘n’ roll. To commemorate the dawning of a new era for uncontrolled substances, let’s look back at some of rock’s most notorious stoners, who are sure to be holding their lighters aloft in honor of these epochal developments.

Black Sabbath

Just for starters, one of their earliest albums introduced the much-covered metal marijuana anthem “Sweet Leaf.” But beyond that musical love letter to THC, Ozzy Osbourne is one of rock’s most titanic tokers, to the point that he ultimately changed his stance on legalization in recognition of the damage drugs had done to his neurological system. Granted, we’re talking about a lot more than merely pot in Ozzy’s case, but nevertheless, Sabbath are still stoner-rock Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants & Rumors: Celebrate the Weed Laws with Rock’s Top 10 Stoners’

I know today is Halloween, but we just can’t wait for the upcoming holiday season! There are so many great things in store, one of which being the Holidays Rule compilation released yesterday by Hear Music, a joint venture between Starbucks and Concord Music Group. The release features holiday (mostly Christmas) classics covered by some of today’s most noteworthy artists such as the one and only Paul McCartney, The Shins, Andrew Bird, The Civil Wars, fun. and many more! If you’re ready for a glimpse of Christmas future, heat up some hot coco and listen to fun.’s cover of “Sleigh Ride” streaming here! If that doesn’t get you in the holiday spirit, then you might be a Scrooge.

If you like fun. then you might also like OurStage’s own Ivory Drive.

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• Amy Winehouse: the play.
• Diddy is unbreakable.
• Voodoo, as it was meant to be heard.

• To be fair, it does sound like a terrible idea at first.
• Bon travail, Macca!
• Listen to this now. You’ll be hearing it everywhere soon.
• Obama knows what’s up.
• No surprise that this sold for more than his underwear.
• True to character, Fox is extremely subtle.

• Tom Morello’s was fun, but this is a more sensible reaction.
• Hopefully there were no eruptions.
• That is one historic piano.
• Adele ends her marathon run.
• …and gets married in secret?
• Here’s one pop believer.

This morning, inside of a Russian court surrounded outside by furious protesters, a judge declared Russian punk band Pussy Riot guilty of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.” The charge ultimately came with a sentence of two years in jail, and the ruling comes five months after band members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were initially imprisoned for performing a “punk prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. In the February 2012 performance, the group donned neon–colored balaclavas and played a song entitled “Mother of God, Chase Putin Out,” which resulted in their immediate arrest and detention at the hands of Russian police.

Over the course of their time in custody, the band members have received support from numerous high–profile musicians, including Paul McCartney, Peaches, Madonna, Sting, Peter Gabriel, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Björk. Despite the mounting global pressure from celebrity musicians and human rights organizations on Russian authorities to release the women, the judge declared that the two–year sentence is a “caution to others” according to the Wall Street Journal’s live blogging of the trial.

In their closing statements preceding the sentencing, band members defended their actions against the prosecution’s accusations of religious hatred. Samutsevich declared that Vladimir Putin‘s government had appropriated the Orthodox Church as a political tool in order to control the Russian populace, and repress human rights and civil liberties. The band’s performance, Samutsevich continued, was an attempt to reclaim the Orthodox culture, which the government had co–opted as an oppressive arm of the Putin regime. Contrary to the charges against them, the band members claim, their performance was meant to reunite the church with the Russian spirit of “civic revolt and protest.” Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova also drew parallels with persecuted Soviet–era poet Joseph Brodsky and the absurdist Oberiu poets of the 1920s and ’30s. Brodsky was denounced and eventually expelled from the USSR, while the Oberiu poets were condemned for “literary hooliganism” and arrested.

Russia’s notably troubled history with media censorship has been worsening, as the trial’s outcome suggests. The Huffington Post claims that recent laws have increased fines to almost $9,000 for those who take part in unauthorized demonstrations, and that NGOs must register as “foreign agents” if they are to engage in any political activity. Though the three members of Pussy Riot supposedly laughed after their sentence was announced, it remains to be seen whether their sentencing will trigger a larger backlash against Russia’s draconian censorship laws, as they implied in their closing statements.

Below, watch a bystander video of the protest gig that resulted in the band’s arrest.

After sentencing, the band remained defiant, with Alyokhina stating bluntly, ”I am not afraid of you and I am not afraid of the thinly veneered deceit of your verdict at this ‘so-called’ trial. My truth lives with me. I believe that honesty, free-speaking and the thirst for truth will make us all a little freer. We will see this come to pass.”

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In a move that sounds cooler the more we think about it, English electronic group Hot Chip have been chosen to chosen to provide the introductory music for the Olympic table tennis competition. With their Olympic foray, Hot Chip join a host of English musical luminaries who are already involved with the 2012 London games. The all-star list includes Paul McCartney, Arctic Monkeys, MIA, Adele, and Muse, who will reportedly all be performing at the opening ceremony of the games tomorrow night. Muse’s song “Survival” is also the official song of the 2012 Olympics.

While we wait in anticipation for Hot Chip to bring their funky electro-pop to the table tennis court, it’s only natural speculate about other combinations of English bands and Olympic sports that we’d like to see. Dragonforce and rhythmic gymnastics, anyone?