Spinner

Astronaut Chris Hadfield Performs David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' -- in Space (VIDEO)

Spinner — 2013-05-13T12:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Video

It's being called the first music video made in space.

In an online video, astronaut Chris Hadfield sings the David Bowie song "Space Oddity" while floating around in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station.

The video features shots of a floating guitar that would look like a Hollywood special effect anywhere else. It also shows arresting images of the space station orbiting over Earth.

Hadfield and astronaut Thomas Marshburn are scheduled to return to Earth on Monday.

Nevada High School Choir to Back the Rolling Stones on Stage

The Associated Press — 2013-05-10T14:30:00 00:00

LAS VEGAS (AP) - You can't always get what you want. Unless, perhaps, you're a member of the Green Valley High School choir and you want a chance to sing on stage with the Rolling Stones.

The Henderson school's choir will join the Stones at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Saturday night for the encore performance of their hit song, "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Jimi Hendrix Wanted to Create a Supergroup With Paul McCartney, Miles Davis

The Associated Press — 2013-05-10T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Holy Hell

LONDON (AP) - Miles and Jimi. Jimi and Miles. Fans of the late trumpet and guitar masters have long known that Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix had been making plans to record together in the year before Hendrix's sudden death in 1970.

But less attention has been paid to the bass player they were trying to recruit: Paul McCartney, who was busy with another band at the time.

This tantalizing detail about the super group that never was - jazz standout Tony Williams would have been on drums - is contained in an oft-overlooked telegram that Hendrix sent to McCartney at TheBeatles' Apple Records in London on Oct. 21, 1969.

David Bowie Church Brothel Video: Singer Still Pushing Buttons With 'The Next Day' Clip

Spinner — 2013-05-09T15:30:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Video, New Music, New Releases

David Bowie has released a new music video for the title track from his album "The Next Day" and it's causing quite the controversy.

The NSFW-ish video features Marion Cotillard as a prostitute suffering from a severe case of stigmata and Gary Oldman as a perverted bishop in a church that also serves as a brothel. Needless to say, religious types aren't impressed.

The video was directed by edgy auteur Floria Sigismondi, who also helmed "The Runaways" and has made clips for the likes of the White Stripes,Interpol and Nine Inch Nails in the past.

What will Bowie do next? We've got no idea. He's not touring or doing proper interviews, but if he keeps on poking at the establishment we could be in for an interesting ride.

The National Premiere Music Video via Reddit AMA & More -- News Roundup

Spinner — 2013-05-08T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Video, News Today, Oh Boy!

In case you missed it, Matt Berninger, Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner of the National did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit today. After answering a slew of fan questions, the band released a minimalist video clip for their new track "Sea of Love" off their upcoming new album Trouble Will Find Me. Check out the new video below. [Rolling Stone]

David Bowie conceptualized this crazy new music video, starring actors Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, for his new song "The Next Day." A fair warning -- with Bowie playing messiah and boobs abounding, the video is NSFW and NSFF (that last one is Not Safe For Fundies). [Pretty Much Amazing]

Lonely Island Release Spring Break/Gay Marriage Video With Ed Norton, James Franco

Spinner — 2013-05-08T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Video, New Music, New Releases

The Lonely Island released a video today for their new single "Spring Break Anthem," a video that mixes spring break hijinx with same-sex marriage and wedding planning.

In a sneaky swerve the video starts off as a new edition of actor Zach Galifianakis' Funny Or Die "Between Two Ferns" series. In it the "Hangover" star interviewsJames Franco. After some quick questions about Franco's film "127 Hours" ("127 hours, is that how many hours you look in the mirror every day?") and other bizarre inquiries ("Your face resembles James Dean's, is it safe to say your sausage resembles Jimmy Dean's?") and hosting the Academy Awards, Galifianakis stops the interview to introduce The Lonely Island.

The band is then shown introducing the video, directed by the band and Scott Aukerman, which starts showing a typical college crowd partying hard interspersed with shots of three gay couples planning weddings -- one featuring The Lonely Island's Andy Samberg, another with Galifianakis and the third with Ed Norton.

Austin City Limits Festival Lineup Announced: Phoenix, Tame Impala, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Lionel Richie, & More

The Associated Press — 2013-05-07T11:49:00 00:00

Filed under: News

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Depeche Mode, the Cure, Muse -- this year's expanded Austin City Limits Festival will feature something of a European invasion with five of eight headliners at least partially coming from across the Atlantic Ocean.

Also among the list of headlining performers announced Tuesday were Atoms for Peace, Phoenix, Lionel Richie and Wilco.

The festival in Austin, Texas, expands to two weekends this year, Oct. 4-6 and 11-13, at Zilker Park. Three-day passes go on sale Tuesday.

D'Angelo, Queens of the Stone Age, fun., Kendrick Lamar, Tame Impala and Justin Vernon's other band, the Shouting Matches, also are on the schedule, along with a selection of Austin bands that includes the Black Angels, Okkervil River and Court Yard Hounds.

No Doubt's Gwen Stefani Gets 'Wild Horses' Wrong in Front of Mick Jagger (VIDEO)

Spinner — 2013-05-06T14:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Video, Holy Hell

The Rolling Stones opened up their 2013 North American leg of their "50 And Counting..." tour Friday night in Los Angeles, but it was rather obvious special guest Gwen Stefani didn't quite get the memo.

The group's 23-song set at Staples Center kicked off with the UCLA Marching Band coming out before "Get Off My Cloud" but it was Stefani's guest appearance during "Wild Horses" which had many diehard fans talking afterwards. As shown in a YouTube clip, Stefani didn't quite know the lyrics to the classic, fumbling through a few lines in the second verse beforeMick Jagger saved her from further embarrassment.

Adam Yauch Park: Late Beastie Boys Member Gets Brooklyn Playground Named After Him

Spinner — 2013-05-03T15:45:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Music Appreciation

Late Beastie Boys member Adam "MCA" Yauch is getting a New York City park named after him.

City officials are turning the Brooklyn Heights-area Palmetto Playground into "Adam Yauch Playground."

The rapper, who died at age 47 due to throat cancer, actually used to hang out in the park. The local Brooklyn Heights Blog had been advocating for the park name-change and was on hand for the official dedication.

Jeff Hanneman, Dead: Slayer Guitarist Passes Away At Age 49 Due to Liver Failure

The Associated Press — 2013-05-03T11:45:00 00:00

Filed under: News, R.I.P., Holy Hell

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jeff Hanneman, a founding member ofSlayer whose career was irrevocably changed after a spider bite, has died. He was 49.

Slayer spokeswoman Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald said Hanneman died Thursday morning of liver failure at a Los Angeles hospital with his wife, Kathy, by his side.

The guitarist had recently begun writing songs with the band in anticipation of recording a new album later this year. He had been slowly recovering from what was believed to be a spider bite that nearly cost him his arm after he failed to seek immediate treatment.

Webby Awards: Grimes, Frank Ocean, Justin Bieber Win the Internet

Spinner — 2013-05-02T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Awards

Montreal electro-popster Grimes and breakout R&B star Frank Ocean were announced as 2013 Webby Award winners in New York earlier today.

But the duo didn't win their Webbys, awarded generally for "excellence on the Internet including websites, interactive advertising, online film & video and mobile content," for their music so much as for their bold online stances.

Grimes, who recently won a Juno Award and has also been nominated for Prism Prize and Polaris Music Prize awards this year, earned her nod as Artist of the Year "in recognition of her ability to harness the power of the Web to engage and inspire millions of fans," according to the Webby website.

Deftones Cover Kris Kross' 'Jump' After Group's Chris 'Mac Daddy' Kelly Passes Away (VIDEO)

Spinner — 2013-05-02T13:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, Video, R.I.P.

Alternative metallers Deftones honored dead rapper Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly of Kris Kross last night by performing the kid-friendly group's 1992 hit "Jump" at the Pageant in St. Louis, Missouri.

Kelly had died earlier in the day at an Atlanta hospital.

While outwardly it would seem strange for an intense, heavy act like Deftones to salute Kris Kross, the band has faced its own tragedy in recent months -- Deftones bassist Chi Cheng passed away at 42 in April -- so they could surely understand surviving KK member Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith's pain.

That, and the Deftones are no strangers to cover songs, or hip-hop, having worked with Cypress Hill's B-Real in the past.

Arcade Fire Baby: Régine Chassagne and Win Butler Have Baby Boy

Aaron Brophy — 2013-04-26T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News, News Today, Oh Boy!, New Releases

Alberto E. Rodriguez, Getty

One of rock's royal families has just gotten a bit bigger.

Régine Chassagne and Win Butler, the power couple behind Arcade Fire, have welcomed a brand new seven-pound baby boy into the world.

Chassange gave birth to the boy on Sunday, April 21. News of which came, perhaps appropriately, via a holy man. Barry Mack, the pastor at Montreal's St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Saint-Lambert, gave the good news to Le Journal de Montréal.

"C'était un mariage à leur image," said Mack of the couple. "C'est bien de voir qu'ils sont toujours ensemble et qu'ils ont aujourd'hui un bébé. C'est un peu rare dans l'industrie du divertissement."

Which, in english, is roughly, "It's good to see that they are still together and they now have a baby. It's a bit rare in the entertainment industry."

Feist Hologram Performs Simultaneously in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver for Samsung

Aaron Brophy — 2013-04-26T13:30:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News

Feist hologram

There are some cultures in the world that have in the past -- and still today -- believe that photographing a person can steal their soul.

While the shamans and mystics have yet to rule on the effects of holograms, one thing is for certain -- if you use the power of digital holography to raise the dead it will result in a curse on your business. Just ask bankrupt Tupac hologram maker, Digital Domain.

Nevertheless, Samsung took a risk by transforming Leslie Feist -- also a once-upon-a-time punk rocker with Canadian act Placebo, ex-bassist for drum circle hippies By Divine Right and occasional raunch-rap sidekick to Peaches -- into a hologram for a Samsung Galaxy S4 for launch party last night.

Charles Bradley Finds the Light After Years in the 'Darkness' With 'Victim of Love'

Dan Reilly — 2013-04-26T13:01:00 00:00

Filed under: Concerts and Tours, News, New Music, Exclusive

Gino DePinto, AOL

"The first album was the darkness and now this is bringing the light out of me."

That's how 64-year-old Charles Bradley, the Screaming Eagle of Soul, sums up his recently released second album, Victim of Love. If you don't know Charles' backstory, you're missing out on one of the most heartwarming, inspiring stories in music.

After years moving around the country, finding a cooking job here and there, sometimes living on the streets or in subway cars, Bradley moved to Brooklyn to live with his estranged family. He nearly died from an illness, and suffered through the murder of his brother, who was shot just down the street from their home.

World's Most Dangerous Music: Karaoke Killings, Evil Instruments, Other Sinister Sounds

Robin Tarnowetzki — 2013-04-25T16:45:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Holy Hell, The Hit List

AFP

Music has a peculiar power.

It's long been known that listening to classical music -- the Mozart Effect -- can help students preparing for exams. And a gardening expert recently discovered that plants actually become stronger and more disease resistant if they're exposed to Black Sabbath's "Sweat Leaf" and other rockers.

But much in the same way that for every noble jedi knight there's an evil sith lord running around, music can also harvest the powers of darkness.

From feuds, to suicide, to murder, music has been linked to violent behavior throughout time and some types of music and instruments have even been said to drive people insane.

Itch, 'Like I'm Drugs' -- Video Premiere

Theo Bark — 2013-04-25T16:15:00 00:00

Filed under: Video, Exclusive, RPM, New Music, EDM

Andrew Paynter

Having spent seven years as front man of The King Blues, London artist Itch effectively toes the line between grime, punk and dubstep, collaborating with punk icons like Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Goldfinger's John Feldmann.

Spinner RPM is thrilled to premiere Itch's controversial new video for "Like I'm Drugs," which depicts the rapper sitting alone in the trap, ingesting everything but the kitchen sink.

"The concept of this video is me taking a lot of drugs," Itch tells us of the clip, which paints a vastly darker portrait than the song's uptempo production would suggest.

Steve Earle, 'Low Highway': Singer/Actor Offers Oral Sex to Work on Lena Dunham's 'Girls'

Lonny Knapp — 2013-04-25T15:30:00 00:00

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Television, New Music, New Releases

Jamie McCarthy, Getty

Steve Earle is eating breakfast at Toronto's Drake Hotel. It's mid-morning on a weekday, but the place is packed with serious folks in sharp business attire, freelance types and baby-toting hipster moms. In this crowd, Earle is easy to spot.

Sitting alone, with a blue western shirt opened to his chest, a long two-tone beard and hair that hangs to his shoulders at the back while only a few determined wisps cling to the front, he seems as out of place as a vegan at a butcher shop.

Since dropping his 1986 debut Guitar Town, Earle has released 15 studio albums, snagged three Grammy awards, and is often mentioned in the same breath as great American songwriters such as Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan.