BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 12/31

BuzzSugar — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:15:38 -0800

The Terminator will be added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. - Zap2It
Unless a deal is struck today, Time Warner Cable subscribers will lose Viacom channels (MTV, Comedy Central, etc.) just after midnight tonight. - Variety
Fox is looking to delay the release of Watchmen. - Reuters
Funny Games star Michael Pitt has been cast in Martin Scorsese's HBO pilot, Boardwalk Empire. - The Hollywood Reporter
Duffy topped the British album charts in 2008 with Rockferry. - Reuters
Meanwhile, Lil Wayne finished atop the US year-end charts. - Billboard
Brothers and Sisters may be going down one brother. - Entertainment Weekly

What's the Song of Summer 2008?

BuzzSugar — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:00:46 -0700

You know, I'm not gonna lie: kind of a tame Summer for music, don't you think? Not to say that there weren't solid releases from big names, but it's that time of year when everyone seems to be singing the same song ("Umbrella-ella-ella-ella!") and yet I can't seem to find a consensus of what songs are perpetually on the radio, in our heads, or on the dance floor.

But here are the songs that, as far as I can tell, are on heavy rotation right now. You know, the songs that will remind us in the future of that one Summer when every superhero movie ever came out, Mariah Carey got married, and neither Obama nor McCain was president yet.

Source

Separated at Birth: UK Singing Soundalikes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:30:55 -0700

It seems like you can't turn on the radio or surf the music blogs these days (or walk into a Starbucks, for that matter) without hearing a lady singer who is from the UK and sounds strikingly similar to Amy Winehouse or Lily Allen. It's as if all aspiring British female vocalists born between 1979 and 1991 were only given Dusty Springfield and Etta James records to listen to for inspiration.

Winehouse and Allen reintroduced the "soulful songstress with attitude and distinctive vocals" persona to the mainstream when they took the USA by storm a few years ago. However, they now appear to be imploding personally, leaving a hole in the genre that record labels have rushed to fill. I'm not complaining, as I happen to really enjoy this kind of music, but how to tell all this talent apart? There are a lot of 'em, and in addition to having similar musical styles, their names (er, um, "name," as the case may be for several of them) are hardly distinctive. It's confusing! For your benefit and mine, here's my attempt to break it all down:


Name	Duffy	Adele	Estelle	Kate Nash	Gabriella Cilmi
Recent Album	Rockferry, 2008	19, 2008	Shine, 2008	Made of Bricks, 2008	Lessons to Be Learned, 2008 (not yet for sale in US)
Single to Download	"Mercy" or "Warwick Avenue"	"Chasing Pavements"	"American Boy"	"Foundations" and "Merry Happy"	"Sweet About Me" (not yet available in US)
Identifying Features	"Mercy" featured on Grey's Anatomy; album sold at Starbucks	Voice getting a lot of hype; lacks the bad-girl storytelling of the others	As good at rapping as singing; big names like Kanye West and John Legend behind her	More Lily Allen than Winehouse; a great choice post-breakup	Technically Australian, a budding talent now working it in the UK
iPod Replay Potential*	3	4	8	7	6

*scale of 1-10, 1 = "What's this lady doing on my iPod?" and 10 = "Cannot get enough - it's the soundtrack of my life!"
Source and Source

What to Download: New Music on iTunes

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:29:25 -0700

Tuesdays are big in entertainment-ville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So I take a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Here are today's selections:

Just in time for summer: I've been excitedly anticipating the release of this new Death Cab for Cutie album for a while now. From what I've heard so far I'm really loving it. Tracks like I Will Possess Your Heart have that jam-band quality we got a peek at a little while ago, but I'm finding other songs on the album are equally as unexpected like You Can Do Better Than Me for example. Personally, I'm downloading the entire thing.

Raise your hand if you like pretty songs: Jason Mraz's new album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. is finally here and there is even a special bonus track version you can pick up at iTunes. I think Jason Mraz is a little like John Mayer - you either dig the singer-songwriter's pop style or you don't. One thing I'll say about this new album is it is far more intimate and laid back than his previous poppy coffee house tunes. One bonus track, I'm Yours is already a bit of an Internet phenomenon and for good reason. It's really sweet!

To more to download, so read more.

British invasion: There's got to be something in the water across the pond because here comes another gritty, bluesy voice out of the UK, a la Amy Winehouse. The LA Times calls Duffy's soulful album a "very early-'60s retro sound" and I'm really digging it. I think most people will love her sassy up-tempo tunes like Mercy but I really like her voice slowed down and bluesy in Warwick Avenue.

They've got the right stuff: Are you ready for the first single from the reunited NKOTB?! It's called Summertime and it's, you know, boy band-ish. But it's fun and nostalgic and you'll probably giggle a little.