Search Results for: many eyes

Following are previews of albums due out within the next few months from debut acts or under-the-radar artists due for a breakthrough. PAOLO NUTINI Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini, who turns 20 January 9, was one of the most noteworthy breakout artists of 2006 for Atlantic Records in the United Kingdom. After an appearance at South by Southwest in Austin last March, his debut single, “Last Request,” reached No. 5 in July on the British charts and also became a substantial airplay hit. His debut album, “These Streets,” subsequently opened at No. 3 with out-of-the-box sales of 35,000, according to his… Read more »

Used record bins are flooded with albums from swaggering British lads whose bands have conquered England and have their eyes set on cracking the States. Not too many of them can claim to have their music used in two of the most popular TV shows in the country before most Americans have ever heard of them, though. The vaguely scary, beat-crazy sound you might have heard on recent episodes of “Desperate Housewives” and “CSI: Miami” comes courtesy of Kasabian, currently infecting American ears with the intense marriage of druggy beats and massive guitar riffs from their self-titled debut. “We’re going… Read more »

Los Angeles – Before they made the jump to Atlantic Records in 2004, the members of Death Cab for Cutie thought long and hard about leaving Seattle’s Barsuk Records. But after six years of deliberation, and the ultimate satisfaction the band took in its decision, manager Jordan Kurland grants that there has been a twinge of remorse. “I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that after I saw Bright Eyes debut in the top 10, I didn’t think, ‘Ah, we should have done that…’ But we’re having a great time.” Indeed, the band Bright Eyes bolted to No. 10 on… Read more »

Los Angeles – All the Backstreet Boys ask is that you give them a fair chance. The quintet is set to return with a new Jive album in June preceded by a single in March. “That’s the first thing we thought about when we started making the record,” the group’s Howie Dorough says. “That’s why we said we weren’t going to give ourselves a time limit. We wanted to make sure this album would give us a shot again to be around for the long haul so people will realize that we’re not, hopefully, a flash in the pan in… Read more »

Hoboken, N.J. – The brooding kid hailed as rock’s next musical genius slouches next to the bar at a tiny, smoky club. No one notices. Not even this crowd of indie music fans recognizes Conor Oberst, the 24-year-old sensation behind Bright Eyes who’s been pegged as this generation’s Bob Dylan, putting words and melody behind those tormented emotions the rest of us struggle to describe. He pops up on stage to join his friends, Yo La Tengo, for their encore. Then he slides back into the crowd, just another skinny guy in jeans and a black hoodie. But the days… Read more »

“You wouldn’t believe how many idiots think I live in an igloo.” Stephen Kozmeniuk, founder and lead singer of Boy, is talking about the misperceptions he’s had to deal with regarding his hometown. Whitehorse, Yukon, may not be the music capital of the world, but Kozmeniuk is quick to assure outsiders that it’s just your average Canadian burg – Wal-Mart and all. “It’s all the stuff around it that makes it beautiful,” he adds. Few musicians are better qualified to assess the characteristics of the average Canadian town than Kozmeniuk. Not only does he hail from one of the country’s… Read more »

Somewhere between the slight goofiness of the barbershop quartet and the life-or-death dramatics of the opera, there lies a cappella, a form of harmonized singing usually reserved for bow-tie-clad lawyers-to-be at Ivy League colleges across the Northeast. But one group of students at George Washington University is aiming to change all that, by bringing a cappella to the hoodie and studded-belt set. They’re called Emocapella (spelled with one “p,” which, in itself, is way emo), a bunch of sensitive lads who harmonize tunes by emo faves like Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday and Saves the Day at nearly sold-out concerts… Read more »

“Backstreet Men” doesn’t really have the same ring, but make no mistake, the Backstreet Boys are coming back more mature on their first album in five years. The group, which hasn’t released a collection of new music since 2000’s Black & Blue, just wrapped sessions for the as-yet-untitled album, which might surprise people expecting the same pop sound of old, according to member Howie Dorough. “We’ve been working on it for more than a year now, but it really started taking shape and changing over the past six months,” Dorough said. “It’s going in a more pop/rock direction, kind of… Read more »

CANNES, France – In the music business, it’s a vision that may soon be consigned to history: Grandpa slumping into the recliner, closing his eyes and enjoying a favorite rendition of an operatic solo. For music lovers these days, the sedentary lifestyle is out. A generation after the birth of portable tunes on the Walkman, technology has made music available nearly everywhere for today’s on-the-go consumer – and the recording industry sees a new wave to ride. The buzzwords Sunday at the Midem music industry conference in the French Riviera resort town of Cannes were mobile music, seen as the… Read more »

The John Bassett Theatre in Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre has become best known as the home of Canadian Idol, but the concert hall will be filled with many of the people who inspire the Idol hopefuls next month. The Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame will be inducting a selection of great Canadian songs and their writers on February 8 and the list of performers who will celebrate the songs is just as impressive. A Canadian all-star band featuring Tom Cochrane, Three Days Grace, Ian Thornley, Jeff Healey and Margo Timmins of The Cowboy Junkies will gather to perform The Guess… Read more »