Mark Davis/Getty Images"[Streaming services] are becoming more popular, but it still isn't at a point where you're able to replace royalties from record sales with the royalties from streams," drummer Patrick Carney told VH1.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Black Keys on Spotify: Service Isn't a 'Feasible' Way to Make a Living
Mark Davis/Getty Images"[Streaming services] are becoming more popular, but it still isn't at a point where you're able to replace royalties from record sales with the royalties from streams," drummer Patrick Carney told VH1.
The Best Albums of 2011: 40 Records That Made This Year Unforgettable
Getty Images (5)We heard some amazing debuts, a sprawling punk masterpiece, a singer-songwriter hitting it big after some high-profile hip-hop dalliances, a long-lost album finally seeing the light of day, a growling old favorite making welcome return and a jilted singer dominating the charts, airwaves and hearts of millions while pouring her heart out. And that just represents our top 10 picks.
The decision-making was intense as usual: Several rounds of nominations, voting and insults, plenty of F-bombs and down-to-the-wire tweaking. But in the end, we were able to agree on the albums you can find in the gallery below (or just check out the list here, if you don't feel like reading our insights on these terrific LPs). So click through, see if your favorites made the cut and leave your blessings or curses in the comments.
Diamond Rings Recalls Rapping Before a Beastie Boy and Katy Perry Playing his Song
Superhuman Happiness, 'Needles and Pins' -- Video of the Day
Artist: Superhuman Happiness
Video: 'Needles and Pins'
Highlight: "'Needles and Pins' was written on the subway late at night years ago as I was trying to catch my breath after a hostile altercation outside a bar that ended with me being chased by at least three people," saxophonist/singer Stuart Bogie tells Spinner. "As I sat panting and sweating on a bench in the G train, the melody and words began to come to me. I wrote and recorded most of the vocals there in the subway car. You can hear the quite panic in my voice while the music drives another message: 'I got away, suckers. Time to dance!'"
Video: 'Needles and Pins'
Highlight: "'Needles and Pins' was written on the subway late at night years ago as I was trying to catch my breath after a hostile altercation outside a bar that ended with me being chased by at least three people," saxophonist/singer Stuart Bogie tells Spinner. "As I sat panting and sweating on a bench in the G train, the melody and words began to come to me. I wrote and recorded most of the vocals there in the subway car. You can hear the quite panic in my voice while the music drives another message: 'I got away, suckers. Time to dance!'"
Watch Superhuman Happiness' 'Needles and Pins' Video
Best Songs of 2011: Listen to Our 60 Favorite Tracks of the Year
- Posted on Dec 14th 2011 5:00PM by Spinner Staff
- Comments
Getty ImagesSo, rather than rehash all that, we'll just get to the chase. Here are our picks for the Best Songs of 2011. Have a listen to each one of them below, and let us know why we're awesome or how our taste is so horrible.
60. My Morning Jacket, 'Holdin on to Black Metal'
Actually, what Jim James is holding on to is the funky experimentalism he first tried on 2005's 'Z' and fully embraced -- with mixed results -- on 2008's 'Evil Urges.' Here, he gets it right, as horns and female singers help him offer a tongue-in-cheek rebuke of satanic Scandinavian rock. -- Kenneth Partridge (Editor, AOL Music)
59. The Naked and Famous, 'Punching in a Dream'
The lyrics don't make clear whether this is a song about overcoming fears or succumbing to them, but the stadium synths leave little doubt. This electro-pop anthem makes you feel invincible, if only for 3:58. -- K.P.
58. The Civil Wars, 'Barton Hollow'
A sense of guilt-ridden foreboding pervades this fried-to-perfection southern yarn, its murderous narrators trudging across the lines of the song to a deliciously heavy-strummed acoustic beat. It's hard not to imagine this alt-Americana thumper landing squarely on a Coen Brothers soundtrack. -- Rob Smy (Editor in Chief, AOL Music)
Lana Del Rey's 'Born to Die' Video Leaks
- Posted on Dec 14th 2011 4:57PM by Theo Spielberg
- Comments
Koen van Weel/AFP/Getty ImagesDuring the promotional rounds for the video, the much-hyped singer assured audiences it would feature a tiger. "It's a controversial video," she told the Sun, "You'll have to wait to see it but I got a generous budget." Well, Del Rey delivered.
Skrillex, David Guetta, Deadmau5 Top MTV's Best EDM Artists List
Getty ImagesMTV's top ten list features stadium-house stalwarts Kaskade, Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5, pop heroes David Guetta and Calvin Harris, up-and-comers Martin Solveig, Avicii and Afrojack, and trance titan Tiësto, yet L.A. debstep phenom Skrillex has once again seized the crown.
Diamond Rings Recalls Rapping Before a Beastie Boy and Katy Perry Playing his Song
- Posted on Dec 14th 2011 2:00PM by Melody Lau
- Comments
Astralwerks"I'm glad that when I came out I didn't know beforehand or else I would've been way more nervous," he tells Spinner. "There's a rap part to my set and if I had known that Ad-Rock was going to be there I would've... I don't know what I would've done!"
Skrillex, David Guetta, Deadmau5 Top MTV's Best EDM Artists List
Getty ImagesMTV's top ten list features stadium-house stalwarts Kaskade, Swedish House Mafia and Deadmau5, pop heroes David Guetta and Calvin Harris, up-and-comers Martin Solveig, Avicii and Afrojack, and trance titan Tiësto, yet L.A. debstep phenom Skrillex has once again seized the crown.
Lana Del Rey's 'Born to Die' Video Leaks
Koen van Weel/AFP/Getty ImagesDuring the promotional rounds for the video, the much-hyped singer assured audiences it would feature a tiger. "It's a controversial video," she told the Sun, "You'll have to wait to see it but I got a generous budget." Well, Del Rey delivered.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Taylor Swift Talks Next Album, Possibly For Late 2012
Taylor Swift has often said she wants to issue albums every two years, and it appears her as-yet-unnamed fourth studio record will meet that standard, giving music retailers a bellwether title for the holiday shopping season in 2012.
Swift says she is "twice as far along," she says, in writing and recording material for her next studio album, than she had been at this point for previous albums. She already has written 25 songs for her next release. "Speak Now," by comparison, had 14 titles on the album's standard version and 17 tracks on a Target-exclusive deluxe edition.
"During the first year of writing the 'Speak Now' album, I was really writing songs that didn't end up on the record because I didn't know what the record was going to be," she says. "Once I kind of locked into what the record was going to be, in the second year I wrote the songs that I was most proud of, like 'Back to December' and 'Mean' and the first single, 'Mine,' and a song called 'Ours.'"
Taylor Swift: Billboard's Woman of the Year
Swift says she is "twice as far along," she says, in writing and recording material for her next studio album, than she had been at this point for previous albums. She already has written 25 songs for her next release. "Speak Now," by comparison, had 14 titles on the album's standard version and 17 tracks on a Target-exclusive deluxe edition.
"During the first year of writing the 'Speak Now' album, I was really writing songs that didn't end up on the record because I didn't know what the record was going to be," she says. "Once I kind of locked into what the record was going to be, in the second year I wrote the songs that I was most proud of, like 'Back to December' and 'Mean' and the first single, 'Mine,' and a song called 'Ours.'"
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