Archive for December, 2009
Artists’ Corner
We’re in the process of negotiating with a handful of artists to post monthly on Suds on Bleeker. They’re all upcoming artists trying to make it; some are just getting started, some have agents, some are looking for labels.
The goal of these artists posting here is to provide some insight into the lives of an artist. Many of us don’t know what it takes to get signed, to produce an album, to get known, etc, so we feel it would be great if we can get the true perspective from actual trying artists.
Our first Suds on Bleeker artist will be Matt Beilis. We’ve posted about Matt quite a few times before (when Suds was housed within SongMeanings), so you might be familiar with him. Regardless, Matt has some extreme talent and it’s a priviledge to have him on board to give us some insight on his journey as an artist.
Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan Dies at 28
James Owen Sullivan, or you may know him as Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, was found dead in his Southern California home yesterday, December 28th of 2009. The drummer, and back-up singer, for Avenged Sevenfold appeared to have died of natural causes according to a police statement.
Sullivan was just 28 years old. His band won the MTV Music Video Award for Best New Artist in 2006. Avenged Sevenfold released a statement on the group’s website.
“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we tell you of the passing today of Jimmy ‘The Rev’ Sullivan.”
“Jimmy was not only one of the world’s best drummers, but more importantly he was our best friend and brother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jimmy’s family and we hope that you will respect their privacy during this difficult time. Jimmy you are forever in our hearts. We love you.”
Mindless Self Indulgence: Skateboards.
Snoop’s Malice N Wonderland
Snoop’s 10th studio album, “Malice N Wonderland,” is his first since 2008’s “Ego Trippin.” To be honest, the album is nothing special. It’s filled with radio hits and electronically produced, auto-tune influenced tracks. There’s nothing wrong with radio hits, but let’s be real here, this is Snoop we’re talking about. He’s just held to a higher standard than just about everyone else.
The first single off the album, titled Gangsta Luv, might be the closer to classic Snoop than any other track on the album. Produced by, and featuring, The Dream, the single is also one of the catchiest tracks off of the album. Club-heads will love the track, but it carries Snoop’s chilled-out sound – making all fans love it.
Aside from Gangsta Luv, Snoops die-hard fans might not totally appreciate, nor love, this album. The only other note-worthy track is Secrets featuring rapper Kokane. Snoop sampled Talking In Your Sleep, by The Romantics, for this track. Secrets holds Snoop’s traditional funk sound while being a bit more creative than Gangsta Luv.
Pick up the album to complete your Snoop discography, but you’ll be glimpsing over the album in just a few days.
Weezer Record Label FREE!
Pop-rock kings Weezer have left Geffen after their contract with the label ended recently. The band will release material independently for the foreseeable fututre.
Recently released on December 21st, “The Refill”, Eminem’s addition to his previous release, “Relapse,” contains an additional seven songs that never made the album. “The Refill” is being package with the “Relapse” so you now get both albums. Track listings for “Relapse: The Refill” shown below include appearances by Drake, Lil Wayne, and Kanye; just to name a few.
Track listing after the break. continue reading
Gaga Craze
NME.com has a short, but good, blog post regarding Lady Gaga’s quick rise to popularity and fame.
It’s almost impossible to fathom that just one year ago, Lady Gaga was opening for New Kids On The Block and Natasha Bedingfield at L.A.’s Nokia Theater. This week she returned to the scene, but as the headliner of a super-sold-out three-night Nokia stint…and really, NKOTB and Natasha would be lucky to open for her now.
There’s no denying Gaga’s impact on mainstream pop music this year. And as such, she was recently named MTV’s Woman of 2009.
Source: “L.A. Goes Gaga At Lady’s Monster Ball” (NME.com)
Today in History
The Chipmunks, in all of their glory, had their song, The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late), hit #1 on this day in history way back in 1958. And it stayed there for the next 4 weeks.
As for other December 22nd songs that make me want to kill myself: the song Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes topped the charts in 1979 and stayed there for 2 weeks.
Tomorrow is a better day, at the least — we’ll celebrate the birthday of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. Followed by Ricky Martin and Ryan Seacrest on the 24th.
Rage Against the X-Factor
Facebook played its hand in a major shock in singles sales last week, when Rage Against the Machine’s classic anthem ‘Killing in the Name’ shot to Number 1 in the UK. A group was created by Jon Morter, 35, who was fed up of X-Factor winners nabbing the highly-regarded Christmas #1 spot every year, and it seems he has found over half a million like-minded spirits (if the 500,000+ sales of the single are anything to go by).
Up until recently, holding the #1 spot in the Singles Chart at Christmas time was a widely coveted privilege. Since 2004, the winners of each X-Factor competition have seen their debut tracks monopolise the Singles Chart over the festive period, making the race for #1 about as intense as an episode of Hannah Montana. This time around, however, fans of Rage, and X-Factor detractors, have banded together in an unprecedented push to make ‘Killing in the Name’ the most unlikely #1 hit in the history of the UK Singles Chart.
The unfortunate loser in this scenario is young X-Factor victor Joe McElderry, who graciously said he was “just delighted to be in the charts”. McElderry’s cover of Miley Cyrus song ‘The Climb’ shifted 50,000 copies less than RATM’s expletive-littered track, making him the first X-Factor winner not to claim the Christmas #1 spot since first winner Steve Brookstein in 2004. Brookstein entered at number 2, but eventually reached number 1 in the first week of January 2005.
Rage Against the Machine will be giving all profits from sales to Shelter, a homelessness charity. The band have also pledged to play a show in the UK to thank all those who bought the single.