BuzzSugar

Link Time: Hugh Jackman Not Hosting the 2010 Oscars

BuzzSugar — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:30:24 -0700

Hugh Jackman has declined to host next year's Oscars - Moviefone
Spoon has announced their next album, Transference, due in January - Pitchfork
Fox has renewed American Dad for a sixth season - Coming Soon
This Is It has been certified fresh by critics - Rotten Tomatoes
Need a last-minute Halloween costume? Check out these ideas inspired by TV characters! - TV.com
Cop the '70s style from upcoming movie The Box - CasaSugar
John Rhys-Davies isn't going to be in The Hobbit prequel as a dwarf - MTV Movies Blog
Glee's Matthew Morrison, AKA Mr. Schuester, has plans to release a solo album - Access Hollywood
The first Lost promo for season six is not terribly exciting - Vulture
Get a load of the Today show hosts as the cast of Star Wars! - Best Week Ever

What to Download: New Music Today

BuzzSugar — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:30:39 -0700

Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores. So I take a spin through each week's music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download.

Wilco reintroduction: I've already checked out Wilco: The Album (check out my track-by-track review here), and now it's officially out and ready for you to download! It's more spunky rock than it is country-ish, and overall it's a well-rounded and satisfying album. Check out the tracks "Wilco" and "You and I" to get started.

A little EP is better than nuffin: It feels like it's been forever since Austin indie band Spoon released its stunning 2007 album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. I have no idea when this group will release another full album, but at least we get a fun EP today! The first track, "Got Nuffin," is hard-driving with an interesting guitar solo. The other two tracks, "Tweakers" and "Stroke Their Brains," are more experimental but well worth the download.

One more up next, so just read more.

Kind of a flashback: First of all, doesn't that look like Michael Cera on the cover? I never would have expected a resemblance between Cera and Rob Thomas, but there you have it. Anyway - when I listen to Thomas's music, it takes me back to the '90s, when artists like Goo Goo Dolls ruled the radio and The Real World was in San Francisco. Get a load of "Real World '09" and "Her Diamonds" for a journey back in time.

Link Time! 9/4

BuzzSugar — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:30:59 -0700

Anthony Edwards is returning to ER - in flashbacks. - TV Squad
Uh-oh: Michael Cera says he hasn't heard about an Arrested Development movie. - Slashfilm
Top Design's second season is off to a promising start. - CasaSugar
A new live track from Spoon! - Stereogum
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is getting read aloud - in full! - in NYC. - Pop Candy
The political side of our Curtis Sittenfeld interview. - CitizenSugar
Remembering Bill Melendez, Peanuts animator and voice of Snoopy. - Popwatch

Source

EW Picks the Best 25 Indie Rock Albums - Do You Agree?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:30:52 -0700

Ah, top 25 lists. I know some people hate to list music in this way because it's so hard (I know this first hand) to compare albums and favorite songs much less pick favorites. A wise first step for any list maker is to narrow the field by genre, which is what EW recently did to choose the best indie albums from each year, from 1984 up until the present.

They also gave themselves some rules for which albums are eligible, including defining "independent" as "the bands had to have been signed to an independent label for the given album" (so, Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirt doesn't count because that album was released on Geffen Records) and they have to be bands, not individual artists, which is why you won't see Elliott Smith or Sufjan Stevens in there.

Here are the picks for the past five years:

2008: Radiohead, In Rainbows
2007: Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2006: The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America
2005: Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
2004: Arcade Fire, Funeral

I have a nit to pick with their 2006 choice and probably would have chosen Band of Horses, Everything All the Time for the best of that year. What do you think? Anyone missing? To see the rest of the list, read more.

2003: The White Stripes, Elephant
2002: Interpol, Turn on the Bright Lights
2001: The Shins, Oh, Inverted World
2000: Yo La Tengo, And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
1999: Sleater-Kinney, The Hot Rock
1998: Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
1997: Modest Mouse, Lonesome Crowded West
1996: Belle and Sebastian, If You're Feeling Sinister
1995: Archers of Loaf, Vee Vee
1994: Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand
1993: Built to Spill, Ultimate Alternative Wavers
1992: Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted
1991: My Bloody Valentine, Loveless
1990: Fugazi, Repeater
1989: The Pixies, Doolittle
1988: Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation
1987: Dinosour Jr., You're Living All Over Me
1986: R.E.M., Life's Rich Pageant
1985: The Smiths, Meat Is Murder
1984: The Replacements, Let It Be

Source

Treasure Island Music Festival Recap, Part II

BuzzSugar — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:02:14 -0700

I was downright giddy to attend the first-ever Treasure Island Music Festival this weekend, and the two-day event far exceeded my expectations. Yesterday, I gave you a gallery and my thoughts on the fest, and today, I'm breaking down the highs and lows of the performances.

As with any festival, it was fun to get turned on to some new artists. In the discovery department, I was probably most charmed by the cello-buttressed indie rock of Sea Wolf, while YumSugar was impressed by the tango revisionists Gotan Project. It was also pretty awesome to see the newest Modest Mouse member, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, tearing it up again. For all of my highlights and disappointments, read more

The Highlights

M.I.A.: I expected this to be one of the highest-energy shows at TI Fest, and the Sri Lankan rapper and her crowd did not disappoint. During "Paper Planes," M.I.A. started scaling the stage, and at another point, about 30 women from the audience joined her for a wicked group dance.
Funny aside: My friend Phil, who snapped the photo below, overheard one pair of girls debating whether or not to go on stage to dance. Girl #1: "Come on, let's go!" Girl #2: "But what am I going to do with my bag?" Girl #1: "Just leave it!" Girl #2: "This bag was $4,000 dollars. I am not leaving it!" Ok, If you want to spend $4,000 on a bag, that's your business, but why would you bring it to an outdoor music festival?

Spoon: As you may remember, I'm rather obsessed with the new Spoon album, and I couldn't wait to see how the dance-inducing songs sounded live. The energy was infectious and, even better, the musicians also brought out the music's slightly bizarre, trippier vibe during a few stretches.
M. Ward: The last time I saw M. Ward, his performance was a bit too folksy and subdued to hook me. But in this early afternoon show on Sunday, he was powerfully channeling every bit of his ragged blues influence, pounding on a grand piano and coming off like a soulful veteran.

The Disappointments

DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist: Even YumSugar, who is a huge DJ Shadow fan, agreed that this set was disappointingly dull. Given, there's something kind of wrong about seeing a DJ set in the middle of the day, but the concept - dueling DJs using on 45s - sounded awesome. Unfortunately, the music choices were pretty lackluster.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: I really adore this band's beautifully unbalanced music, but both times I've seen CYHSY live, the off-kilter charm has translated into too-rough performances. The songs lacked focus, and the sound regulation was all over the map.

Treasure Island Music Festival: A Wealth of Awesomeness

BuzzSugar — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:26:24 -0700

Forget sex and drugs; these days, it is possible to overdose on music festivals. This Summer, you could probably attend a different fest every weekend and discover something new every time. Meanwhile, I've just been pining for the amazing shows I'm missing in countless other cities.

So, I'm delighted to announce that on Sept. 15 and 16, I'll be attending San Francisco's very own Treasure Island Festival in its inaugural year and bringing you all sorts of coverage of the superb lineup.

Held on an under-utilized island in the Bay and presented by the folks behind Noise Pop and Another Planet Entertainment, the two-day festival is cleverly split into a electronic day and a rock-centric day, each one featuring 14 bands. Treasure Island is also making a major effort to be green: The festival will offer zero-emissions shuttles from San Francisco to the island, which looks like this:

But the most exciting part, of course, is the music. For more details and my must-see bands, read more

Ok, so I'm giddy just thinking about the artists playing this fest, including Modest Mouse, M. Ward, and Spoon, who recently won me over with their infectious Summertime album.

I can't wait to see sassy hip-hopper MIA do her thing live, and I hope to find some new favorites too. I'm not all that familiar with Ghostland Observatory, but I have a good friend who claims that seeing them in concert is a near-religious experience. Here's the full lineup:

Saturday, 9/15

Thievery Corporation
Gotan Project
DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist
M.I.A.
Ghostland Observatory
Kinky
Zion I
Flosstradamus
Dengue Fever
Honeycut
West Indian Girl
Mocean Worker
Kid Beyond

Sunday, 9/16

Modest Mouse
Spoon
Built To Spill
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
M.Ward
Two Gallants
Earlimart
Au Revoir Simone
Film School
Devil Makes Three
Sea Wolf
Street To Nowhere
Trainwreck Riders

If you're interested in attending, tickets are available online for $58.50 per day or $110 for a two-day pass. Tell me which artists you're most interested in hearing about, and I'll be sure to tell you all about the shows.

Link Time! 8/21

BuzzSugar — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:33:28 -0700

Give Me My Remote has pictures from the first episode of the new season of "The Office."
Pop Candy points me to a cool site with videos from MTV's "120 Minutes."
Speaking of MTV, the MTV Movie Blog brings us this tidbit of information: High School Musical's Olesya Rulin will next star alongside Jessica Simpson in Major Movie Star
Best Week Ever lists the top 10 karaoke songs to avoid at all costs. Where's "It's the End of the World as We Know It"?
TV Squad knows what really happened with Mandy Patinkin and "Criminal Minds."
Cinematical provides us with a retrospective review of National Lampoon's Vacation.
GeekSugar rocks out with a little dancing robot and a cool Spoon song.
TV Filter says the version of "Grease" with the stars from that reality show isn't doing so hot.
Eyeballs and Fishlips shares the exciting news that the quickly canceled U.S. version of "Creature Comforts" is coming to DVD.
Popwatch agonizes over whether to love or hate the cowboy rap song "Hick Chicks."

Source

Music Video: Spoon, "The Underdog"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:39:50 -0700

I've been giddy about the next Spoon album for a month now - ever since I discovered "The Underdog" and several other utterly electrifying tracks that Merge Records is streaming online. The LP, nonsensically titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, finally hits stores next Tuesday, and the Austin band just released a playful music video for the first single.

Giving us a peek into the studio with Britt Daniel and his Spooners, the film follows some old hipster dude as he wanders past mariachi bands, chess games, and other curiosities. I can't wait to get my hands on this album, so check out the video when you read more

The Underdog

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Song of the Day: Spoon, "The Underdog"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 07:30:00 -0700

For reasons not entirely clear to me, I've never really spent much time with Spoon. Though the Austin, TX, band is beloved by indie rockers and rock critics alike, I just haven't gotten terribly excited about what I've heard of the band's music.

All that may change, however, with the band's next album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, which comes out July 10 on Merge Records. In fact, I spent a significant portion of my day yesterday listening to the four tracks that have surfaced online. Merge is streaming three of the songs online (start with "Don't Make Me a Target"), and it looks like the label will be unveiling more as the release date approaches.

But I'm really obsessed with "The Underdog," this brass-laden romp that sounds sort of like The Who and Billy Joel in the best possible way. To listen, read more

My Pick for Best Song Oscar: Spoon, "The Book I Write"

BuzzSugar — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 14:20:40 -0800

The contenders for the Best Song Oscar have been announced, and as usual, the list is an assortment of songs from animated features (Cars), songs from musical movies (Dreamgirls), and cool songs that probably won't win. Then again, if Three 6 Mafia can take home an Oscar, maybe Spoon can too. I didn't really like the movie Stranger Than Fiction all that much, but I love this Spoon song, "The Book I Write," from the soundtrack.