New Track

Eleanor Whitmore, the subject of this latest Pop (Culture) Quiz, has done practically everything to try and get Airplanes off the ground. Her debut album, a splendid blend of rock, pop, and folk with a dash of country twang, couldn’t find a record company willing to give the project the proper push for a successful takeoff. So Whitmore, an adventurous, independent woman who showed no fear of flying solo, decided to make the record herself.
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Yes, icons of progressive rock, have announced plans to take up a tour in early 2009. The band visits Mexico, Canada and a number of states in the US. The tour begins with a two-night show on Feb 5-6 at Del. Cuauhtemoc, Mexico. It then continues by visiting a number of West Coast and Southern States as well as a stop in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. The tour makes stops in US cities like Houston, TX; Denver, CO; Las Vegas, NV; San Diego, CA; Los Angeles, CA and San Francisco, CA.

(More about Yes Announces 2009 Tour…)

Something about the way she sings just pops.

The staggeringly lovely and exceptionally gifted Leona Lewis blew on to the scene dropping Spirit on the UK in late 2007. The album entered the Brit charts at #1 and bloody well became the UK’s fastest-selling debut of all time. Spirit saw a US release in April of 2008 and debuted at #1 on Billboard, making music history with the first appearance of a British female artist entering Billboard’s Top 200 with a #1 record.

(More about Music Review: Leona Lewis - Spirit: The Deluxe Edition…)

Come to me, my babies, let me quell your pain! It's no April Fool's Day joke, my children. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will kick off their 2009 Working On A Dream World Tour in San Jose, California on April 1.

Let's go ahead and end the suspense now. Yes. Yes, he's playing Atlanta. Yes. Yes, I'm going to try and score a pair of tickets to take TheWifeToWhomI'mMarried to go see the show.

Enough about me, let's get back to the details you need to know.

(More about Bruce Springsteen Announces 2009 Working On A Dream World Tour Dates…)

After the banner year in music that was 2007, I suppose it was inevitable that 2008 would be a let down. And it was. It's not that there wasn't any good music released this year; after all, I was able to come up with a full list of 20 (unlike with 2006, where I wimped out at ten). But there was a lack of greatness this year, with albums that rank very highly this year that would have ranked much lower the year previous.
(More about The Top 20 Albums of 2008…)

The Whigs, famous indie-rockers, have launched a tour in 2009 to promote their latest album ‘Mission Control.’ The tour began Jan 15 at Athens, GA and hits 17 cities before winding up on March 14 at St. Louis, MO. It visits cities like East Lansing, MI; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Detroit, MI and Chicago, IL. Their performances include support from the band Drive By Truckers on Jan 15 for the Athens, GA show.

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When I first started my favorite albums of 2008 list, I didn't realize how difficult it would be. How difficult was it? Well, my list of honorable mentions has eight albums on it and there are three EP's I would include if this were not a list of albums. I also did not properly listen to some great 2007 releases until 2008.

Thus, in the spirit of those re-releases record companies love, this is a Deluxe Edition of my favorite albums of 2008 list and is full of extras.

(More about Sterfish’s 10 Favorite Albums of 2008: Deluxe Edition…)

Some of the music played at US President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony on Tuesday (January 20) was taped, not live. The decision was reportedly made to play a recorded version of John Williams’ piece ‘Air And Simple Gifts’ when the musicians determined that the Washingon DC weather was too cold for the instruments to stay in tune. “They were very insistent on playing live until it became clear that it would be too cold,” Inaugural Ceremony organiser Carole Florman told the Associated Press.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — When we caught up with him among the inaugural hoopla, Usher made us a promise: new music very soon. Maybe the record could be a Pharrell Williams/ Neptunes production, because a photo of Usher, Skateboard P and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine collaborating in the studio recently hit the Net.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” Usher said of what they’ve been working on.

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Don’t expect a Beastie Boys/ M.I.A. reunion anytime soon.

Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Mike “Mike D” Diamond made cameos in the video for M.I.A.’s Grammy-nominated song “Paper Planes,” but Ad-Rock shot down reports of M.I.A. performing on any tracks on their new album.

“Those are just rumors,” he told MTV News. The same goes for Snoop Dogg and Jarvis Cocker collaboration rumors — all not true.

(More about Beastie Boys Say Paul’s Boutique Will ‘Finally Be Correct’ On Reissue…)