Idolator
When the internet came, we overthrew the pasty white tastemakers, the duplicitous music marketers and the manufactured pop idols. And then they all came back. This is Idolator. We're so disappointed.
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What Use Are "Best Of" Lists, Anyhow? [Tell Me Something Good]
As has been mentioned in several recent year-end wrapup posts, the merits of putting together arbitrary listings of the year's "best" musical phenomena are somewhat negligible beyond their ability to create some controversy among music nerd types. For me, the ideal when I'm filling out one of the ba ...
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Notes on the rider that accompanied Van Halen's ... [He Ain't Got Nobody]
Notes on the rider that accompanied Van Halen's most recent reunion tour: David Lee Roth's dressing room had to be full of sugar-free Red Bull, but rug-free (so he could practice martial arts pre-show); also, his boudoir "SHOULD BE AS FAR AWAY FROM" those belonging to the other three Van Halens, for ...
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Kid Rock Unclear On The Meaning Behind The Word "Punishment" [They Write Letters]
Was it really more than a year ago that Kid Rock got in a scrap at a Waffle House that resulted in him having to go for anger-management training and perform some community service? It was, and Kid figured that enough time had passed that he could get "creative" with his service time... by going on ...
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The Bee Girl Tries To Pollinate The Celebrity Press [Where Are They Now]
The New York Post nearly redeemed itself last month when it tracked down Heather DeLoach, a.k.a. "the Bee Girl from that Blind Melon video," n.k.a. a 25-year-old aspiring actress who lives in Southern California and whose previous credits include stints on Reno 911! and ER. "When I casually meet peo ...
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The Used-MP3 Marketplace: It's Not A Joke Anymore [The End Of Irony]
One of the running gags those of us who follow the music world for a living has had focused on the idea of the used-MP3 store. "Ha ha!" we laughed. "This is when we know that people are really trying to make money off anything on the Internet, and when we all close up shop and learn a trade." Well, ...
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Ray Winstone To Join Steven Soderbergh's Guided By Voices-Singing Professionals [Casting Notices]
Last month, we told you about Cleo, Steven Soderbergh's musical about the life of Cleopatra that will supposedly star Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hugh Jackman, and the songs of Guided By Voices. (Also it's in 3-D.) Today, a new castmember was announced for the flick: Ray Winstone, whose musical-acting cho ...
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Live Nation And Blockbuster Team Up To Frustrate Ticket Buyers [We're Heading To Dallas To Get Aero...
From the "Who actually purchases tickets in a store these days?" department, Live Nation has signed an agreement with Blockbuster to house ticket outlets in 500 Blockbuster locations "strategically located" near Live Nation venues come 2009, when Live Nation sets up its own ticketing system. Still, ...
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Lily Allen Shows Off Newish Song, EMI Shows Off Newish YouTube Strategy [Listening Station]
Yesterday, charming blogabout Lily Allen debuted "The Fear," the lead single off her forthcoming album It's Not Me, It's You. The song is a brighter version of a track she previewed on MySpace back in April, and it burbles along nicely, with shiny synths underscoring Lily's simple singalong melodies ...
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What Should The Suits Blame: The Economy Or The Leaks? [The Biz]
The hand-wringing over Kanye West's and Guns N' Roses' disappointing sales figures last week has begun, and lots of fingers seem to be pointing toward the economy, the decline of the music industry as a whole, and Axl Rose's reclusive nature. But should someone maybe point out that people aren't buy ...
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The 2009 installment of Bonnaroo will take ... [The Truly Detestable, The Summer Festival]
The 2009 installment of Bonnaroo will take place June 11-14, 2009, and tickets go on sale this Thursday. Following the lead of K-Mart and Stagecoach, the Bonnaroo organizers are offering a lay-away plan for people who want to head out to Tennessee, but don't feel like running up their lines of credi ...
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The occasionally reliable NME is reporting ... [Who Charted (UK)]
The occasionally reliable NME is reporting that Britney Spears' Circus has so far sold 24,000 copies, leaving the album in third place out of the gate. The Killers are hanging on to second place n their second week out, but the real success story is the new Take That disc—titled The Circus&mda ...
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The Macarena: The Song That Will Never Go Away [Revenge Of The '90s]
Los Del Rio's "Macarena", despite being one on the most irritating songs ever created and a constant curse on the ears of anyone who is forced to attend multiple elementary school dances each year, is a nice success story for Los Del Rio, an Andalusian folk act with 40 years of toil in the notorious ...
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Soulja Boy Keeps Opening Mouth, Inserting Self-Branded Shoe [Yahh Trick Uh... Wtf?]
Continuing his elaborate metacommentary on the 21st century couched in saying really stupid shit to the press, Soulja Boy gave a new slew of bon mots to former Idolator guestblogger Jeff Weiss for New York's Vulture blog. In addition to saying that "everything is going digital" while hawking his dec ...
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The Record Business Celebrates The Bad Kind Of Black Friday [Who Charted]
If anyone in the music business was hoping that the one-two punch of a holiday weekend and big-name releases would magically convince people to pay for music one last time, they may want to pour themselves a stiff drink, or at least spike their morning latte: Billboard is reporting that the No. 1 al ...
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Introducing Akon, Pop's Newest Sad-Sack Balladeer [The Last Word]
Our look at the closing lines of reviews of the week's biggest new music continues with a look at reactions to Akon's Freedom, which arrives in stores today: • "Some songs tend to drag on too long, with Akon crooning his chorus catchphrases—'I was wrong for falling in love,' 'I jus ...
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Britney Spears To Take Her Circus On Tour [Like A Karate Kid]
This morning, Britney Spears was on Good Morning America to celebrate the release of her "comeback" album Circus and her 27th birthday, as well as preview her just-announced tour; above, she performs the album's title track in a performance that will no doubt have reams of textual analysis written a ...
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The Creed Reunion Is Almost A Go! [With Arms Wide Open]
Scott Stapp! Scott Stapp! The name like music to the ears of any red-blooded American. And now, it looks like that Creed reunion is actually going to happen! Scott Stapp: wife abuser, sex tape maker, drunken lawsuit loser, and fake-date victim. (Remember that? When a bunch of kids in Florida t ...
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System Overload: How Not To Get Ahead In Music [The New Model]
"Doing traditional PR for independent artists is really difficult, and handling PR on a national level is the most challenging and one of the most discouraging tasks I have ever undertaken," writes Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity, and based on a long post at Music Think Tank where she lays out the ob ...
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Annie Tosses Island Records Aside, Like It's Yesterday's Gum [Breakups]
After seeing her album Don't Stop put into endless turnaround despite it leaking over the summer, the Norwegian retro-popper Annie has announced that she's leaving Island Records: "I think it's a great label, but I never felt they were that positive to my ideas...so we decided that we're not gonna w ...
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OG musicbloggers from Chromewaves, Largehearted ... [Maybe Boy Vampires?]
OG musicbloggers from Chromewaves, Largehearted Boy, Fluxblog, and Said the Gramophone, along with Ryan Catbird and Matt LeMay, are launching a group blog called (somewhat confusingly) MBV. There's MBV-specific content mixed in with posts aggregated from the founders' other sites, and more stuff to ...
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