May 19th, 2012 → 6:28 am @ chedicorn
Whither pop music? Now there’s a gnarly question. There are now so many genres and sub-categories that a person can be entirely up to date on one area and blind to another. Some might say that means being blissfully unaware.It’s the teen-oriented stuff that sucks up all the attention. The material that is so much part of American Ido l, The X Factor and, often, the music that’s .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 11:09 pm @ chedicorn
In quite possibly the best date night ever, the California Academy of Sciences hosts its weekly Nightlife event tonight with the theme “Art of Illusion” and live DJ sets by San Francisco’s emerging Grown Kids Radio.The location itself is about as cool a venue as a date night can get, says Sergio Flores (aka B Maj) co-founder of the six-person DJ collective.”It’s fun. It’s pretty mature. You can .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 8:57 pm @ chedicorn
Howard Stern has not been missed since he took his smutty shtick off the airwaves and onto the unregulated Sirius satellite radio . His super fans – the brainiacs still playing their VHS tapes of a Stern show called “Butt Bongo Fiesta” – have made the satellite radio chiefs happy, but Stern has almost vanished as an icon of pop culture. He even scaled back his radio schedule to three days a week, .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 8:38 pm @ chedicorn
Looking for local summer music? Start here with these reviews by twos. Binding forces include Fleet Foxes, geography and Internet radio. Sound interesting? Read on! Father John Misty “Fear Fun” [ Sub Pop Records ]Poor Moon “Illusion” [Sub Pop Records] From the long shadow cast by crystal-voiced Seattle/Portland singer-songwriter Robin Pecknold and his band Fleet Foxes emerges two spinoff bands: .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 7:26 pm @ chedicorn
Donna Summer may be best remembered as the Queen of Disco, but she became an enduring artist whose legacy extends to some of today’s biggest pop stars.”When you talk about Beyonce, who wants to be known for several things, Donna Summer made that possible,” Billboard editor Joe Levy told ABCNews.com. “She was a dance artist and a disco artist, but she also wanted to do rock songs and Broadway-like .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 2:24 pm @ chedicorn
May 18th, 2012 → 11:14 am @ chedicorn
Donna Summer holds a precision place in pop. She sang for decades, and people adored her the whole way. But her hold on the culture comes down to one fleeting moment: the brief days of disco. And there she was the queen.Disco music was all about the beats and Summer’s sharp, earthy, powerhouse voice drove them, ruled them. She sang like Sugar Ray Leonard fought. Quick and nimble punches at the .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 5:18 am @ chedicorn
The singer, then an unknown in the U.S., was living in Germany and working with Italian producer Giorgio Moroder and lyricist Pete Bellotte. Together they came up with a breathy, minimalist number that sounded flagrantly sexy. Summer’s coos acted as musical erotica atop a simple, four-on-the-floor drum beat. “Love to Love You Baby,” all 17 minutes of it, set a template that would ignite Summer’s .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 4:53 am @ chedicorn
Oh hey! I’m Sam Lansky, music writer and arguably the least “rock and roll” person you’ll ever meet. This is my column, Pop Think, which is getting an unusually edgy takeover this week (normally I write about Taylor Swift or Rihanna ) as I succumb to my current musical obsession: The electro-alt-pop outfit Garbage , who are back in rare form with a new album, Not Your Kind Of People (out next .. more …
May 18th, 2012 → 3:39 am @ chedicorn
New Zealand’s Phillipa Brown burst onto the scene in 2008, backed by Modular, and caught many off guard with one of the label’s finest records, standing out even among its plethora of well-crafted pop/rock/electro hybrids. Of course, the 32 year old known in a performing capacity as Ladyhawke did not simply emerge from the ether, having done time in Wellington’s Two Lane Blacktop and Sydney’s .. more …