Tag Archive for T-Pain

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of months you’ve probably noticed the “latest craze” in pop music. The harmonizing boy bands and sugary pop stars bound to go bad of the’90s and solo acts, like Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé, of the early ’00s need to make way for today’s electro-pop wonders with their club-worthy beats and robotic, auto-tuned vocals. Now, Jay-Z may have declared death to auto-tune, but let’s face it, it’s here to stay. With bands like Owl City and Cobra Starship topping the charts, and T-Pain’s auto-tune iPhone app that puts the power of the voice-altering device in the palm of your hand, there is no way to escape the buzz. And we all know resistance is futile so maybe the best way to deal with it is to embrace it. Go Periscope is a perfect example of a group that has embraced it, and expanded it to include soaring melodies, catchy hooks and a mix of both organic and synthesized sounds.

Read more about pop wonders Go Periscope

There has long been a debate in the music industry regarding the use of sampled music.  Some people are convinced that under the Fair Use law parts of songs that are open to the public may be used in new creations without compensation.  The truth is, Fair Use often doesn’t apply.  The law is so vague it can be determined what Fair Use is on a case-by- case basis.  The usage of copyrighted material without paying of royalties is not only illegal but can cause many issues in the future.
Continue reading ‘The Melophobic: Sampled To Pieces’

Beam 'Em Up: The mysterious Broken Bells ad

The Good

Danger Mouse and James Mercer get “LOST” on fans

Danger Mouse and Shins frontman James Mercer are set to release their first collaboration in early 2010 under the moniker Broken Bells. If that doesn’t get your indie motor running, this will: To hype up the new record, the duo has launched a mysterious viral campaign. Here’s what’s gone down so far:

Those signed up to the Broken Bells mailing list received an email last week written entirely in binary code. Translated it reads, “The high road is hard to find,” which is an obvious reference to one of the album’s tracks, “The High Road.” This week ads started popping up on various Web sites, displaying an image of two shadowy figures. The ads link to several nonsensical Web sites — all anagrams of “Broken Bells.” There, listeners can hear brief snippets of streaming audio, presumably from the record.

I haven’t been this excited since finding out that Ethan Rom was an anagram for “Other Man”!

ABBA decks the hall

Gimme, gimme, gimme airbrushing

The Hall of Fame Foundation has announced that ABBA will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in March 2010. The Swedish pop group joins Brit rockers The Hollies and Genesis, Detroit rockers the Stooges and reggae legend Jimmy Cliff, who will all be inducted this year as well.

T-Pain and Andy Samberg: On a boat, with crabs

As we mentioned last week, comedy group The Lonely Island has been nominated for a GRAMMY for their duet with T-Pain, “I’m On A Boat.” This week Andy Samberg reunited with T-Pain for a “Funny or Die” sketch in which he uses the T-Pain Auto-Tune app on his iPhone to serenade a hermit crab. Funnies ensue.

For the video, click here.

The Bad

Courtney Love loses custody of Frances Bean

Why so serious, Frances Bean?

This week a judge appointed Wendy O’Connor and Kimberly Dawn Cobain — the mother and sister of the late Kurt Cobain — legal guardianship of 17-year-old Frances Bean Cobain. Proving the legal system right, Courtney Love took to the interwebs to voice her frustration, posting a long rant on Facebook which she quickly deleted but not before several Web sites picked it up. Highlights include Love calling Frances Bean “deluded” and “deceptive.” Kind of makes Alec Baldwin look like Father of the Year.

The Ugly

Chris Brown disses Walmart, quits Twitter

Tweeter no more: Chris Brown

Chris Brown stopped by a Walmart in Wallingford, CT and was, um, dismayed to see that the store wasn’t carrying his new record, “Grafitti.” So, like fellow genius Courtney Love, he voiced his concerns on the Internet, tweeting “[Walmart] r blackballing my cd. Not stocking the shelves and lying to customers. What the f—k I gotta do.” [sic] Walmart responded that they were, in fact, selling his CD across the country, including the Wallingford location. Brown then deleted his Twitter account. Now if only Love would do the same …

Rihanna goes topless for GQ

More classiness for you. Begs the question, why is this a headline? A more newsworthy story would be “Rihanna keeps her shirt on for photo shoot.”

Miscellany

• Stephen Colbert sings “Empire State of Mind” with Alicia Keys
• Amazon accidentally leaks new L’il Wayne album
• New Erykah Badu album in the works
• Elvis Costello and U2 mash up
• Google teams with National for new ad

The Good

2010 GRAMMY Nominees Announced

They're (still) on a boat

Last week the 2010 GRAMMY nominees were announced. Beyoncé led the pack with 10 nods, followed by country cutie Taylor Swift, who received 8 nods. Kanye West, the Black Eyed Peas and Maxwell each received 6 nods, while Lady Gaga only received a mere 5. So sad.

The most unusual nomination went to the Andy Samberg-led comedy music group The Lonely Island for their collaboration with T-Pain on “I’m On A Boat.” They’re up against Kanye West and Beyoncé for their song,“Ego.” Oh, this is too good. It’s a perfect storm for a Kanye meltdown. We hope The Lonely Island sails off into the sunset with the GRAMMY, if only to see how Kanye would handle his “Ego” losing to a novelty rap song. Stay tuned for potential fireworks on January 31st.

Jay-Z turns 40

Mr. HOVA himself, Jay-Z, turned 40 on Friday. He celebrated the event by renting a mansion in the Dominican Republic and flying in the likes of M.I.A., Kanye West, Oprah, Alicia Keys and A-Rod on private jets. Weird, same way I celebrated my birthday last year.

The Bad

Rivers Cuomo Injured in Weezer Tour Bus Accident

Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo landed in the hospital on Sunday after his band’s tour bus skidded on ice and ran off the road in upstate New York. The band was travelling from Toronto to Boston for a show at Boston University. Rivers and his assistant were hospitalized with minor injuries —both are expected to make full recoveries.

VH1 releases Kanye West Storytellers

And then things got really weird

OK, lots of Kanye this week but he just makes it too easy. Remember the rapper’s long-winded, awkward and grandiose performance on VH1 Storytellers last February? Now you can relive the discomfort via a CD/DVD release of Mr. West’s performance in its entirety. The album hits stores on January 5th. Next time you do something embarrassing, just pop this thing in your DVD player—you’ll feel better about yourself in no time.

The Ugly

Lady Gaga Meets Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth is the one on the left, if you're wondering

This historic event happened Monday in Blackpool, England, at the Royal Variety Performance. I don’t know why I included it in the “ugly” section. The Queen of England is certainly not unattractive, nor is our Lady of Gaga. They’re both extremely handsome women. That scarlet Elizabethan condom that LG is wearing is another story. I suppose you can’t wear a sequined thong or a Kermit the Frog cloak to meet the Queen. But really. The ladies from Go Fug Yourself agree. I rest my case.

Miscellany
•    She & Him (better known as M Ward and Ben Gibbard’s wife) set to release sophomore album
•    Aziz Ansari and TV On The Radio’s Dave Sitek join forces for hip hop mixtape
•    Noise Pop Festival lineup announced
•    Spin releases Top 40 albums of 2009

When it comes to hip-hop, Chris Fields isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. He’s just shining his rims to blind his competitors. The Brooklyn native enlists the help of heavyweights like Timbaland, DanjaHandz, Brandy and T-Pain on his new record, Phantom Muzik, and the results are potent. On the Danja-produced “I Am What I Am,” Fields comes out shooting over an anthemic synth beat: “I’m pulling words out the air like Bluetooth,” he raps, showing a knack for clever chest-thumping. “Come And Get Some,” another Danja single, serves as Field’s weapon of mass destruction. An organic drum beat and the rapper’s serpentine flow give way to a chorus of sirens—it’s a club banger sure to burn rubber on the dance floor.