Search Results for: stateside

The Grinch might be stealing Christmas from music retailers, but thanks to Josh Groban and Oprah, there’s still some singing in Whoville. For the sales week kicked off by Super Tuesday–the release date before Thanksgiving when record labels typically schedule their big guns–the figures were abnormally bad, with only one Top 10 bow and a seven-week-old album topping the charts. Still, that album, Groban’s Noël, can thank last week’s performance on The Oprah Winfrey Show for driving it past Alicia Keys and into the number one spot. Noël crowned the Billboard 200 by selling 405,000 copies for the week ended… Read more »

In 2004, U.K.-based independent label Memphis Industries released the sample-heavy, intentionally lo-fi and daringly jarring “Thunder, Lightning, Strike,” the Go! Team’s debut full-length CD. The buzz was deafening, so in 2005, the label entered a joint venture with Sony BMG to distribute the album internationally, with the major’s Columbia subsidiary handling it in the United States. It’s a turn of events that every band dreams of — unless that band is the Go! Team. The brainchild of Ian Parton, the Go! Team was never supposed to be mainstream. Parton set out to make “dirty” pop songs — danceable, catchy tunes… Read more »

Kings of Leon singer/guitarist Caleb Followill says the band had one rule while it recorded its third album, “Because of the Times,” due out April 3. “It was just us against the world and so we pretty much threw everything out the window that people warned us about,” Followill says. “We have 13 songs, which is an unlucky number and I hate stuff like that. I was kind of like, ‘F— it man, if we’re going to have a seven-minute song, let’s put it at the beginning. If we want to try stuff, let’s try it.’ “And at the end… Read more »

London pop rockers Hard-Fi are hard at work on their second studio album, which they describe as ‘sounding great’. The four-piece took some time off after the runaway success of their debut “Stars Of CCTV”, which hit No. 1 in the UK and went someway to establishing the band stateside, but reconvened last week. The new album is rumoured for release this winter. “We’re all back in the studio now after the Christmas holiday all a little bit fatter and unhealthier, Kai still hungover and Steve still wearing the jumper his Nan knitted him,” writes guitarist Ross Philips. “But a… Read more »

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 »

Cleveland – Despite lukewarm sales for highly anticipated reunion album “Astronaut,” the members of Duran Duran aren’t about to give up on the Epic disc. Released late last year, the set has sold 219,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “I don’t think any of us are satisfied with how that record has done, and that’s really why we’re planning on staying on the road for most of this year,” bassist John Taylor told Billboard. “Because I think it’s an album that is deserved of a bigger audience than what it already has, our job in part… Read more »

The American Idiot version of Green Day has been garnering headlines (and Grammy noms) thanks to a newfound political bite and some musical risk-taking, but no one has really taken notice of the band’s sudden sartorial flair: skinny ties, mod suits and eyeliner – lots of it. All that eyeliner could be one reason why they’ve taken such a shine to New Jersey goth-punk quintet My Chemical Romance, with their dark suits and ringed eyes. The admiration is so intense that the guys from Green Day asked MCR to open for them on a leg of their next round of… Read more »

They endured unpredictable weather on a Spanish plain for their “Vertigo” video and traffic on the streets of New York for “All Because of You,” so U2 thought they were keeping it simple by shooting their next clip in a Dublin, Ireland, theater. That is, until they were put at the mercy of the venue’s Christmas production of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The group shot the video for the track “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own” on Monday at the Gaiety Theater, according to a band spokesperson. The theater, which is currently housing the children’s story production, gave… Read more »

The only thing on Ed Roland ‘s 41-year-old mind these days is getting younger. In fact, the entire Collective Soul crew has found a way to combat the aging process. “It feels like we’re 20 again,” says Roland, leader of the glossy grunge group. Collective Soul haven’t taken a magic anti-aging pill though. Instead, the group have returned to rock ‘n’ roll after a four year absence with their latest disc, Youth. Roland, who looks the same kind of youthful as Bono, is bundled up in a heavy winter coat and dawns dark sunglasses, even though it’s too dark to… Read more »