Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Alanis Morissette: Album Cover?


This picture has appeared on Alanis' official website and is the backdrop for her shows with Matchbox 20 so I'm wondering if this is going to be the album cover for the new record.

There is also a list of songs that have been written for the album not all will fit on the record as Alanis has admitted that there will only be 10 tracks on the album but here the names of the tracks that have been written at this time.

I Am
It's A Bitch To Grow Up
On The Tequila
Madness
Torch
Straightjacket
Wounded Leading Wounded
Citizen Of The Planet
Versions Of Violence
Tapes
Underneath
Not As We
Limbo No More
Moratorium

Alanis will also star in a new movie called Radio Free Albemuth which is currently in post production. I think that about fills my Alanis quota for the day. Ta.

Alanis Morissette: Versions of Violence (Live in Atlanta)

Alanis is currently on tour as a special guest of Matchbox 20 and is previewing a couple of the songs she has written for Flavors Of Entanglement, which ones will be included on the actual album is still a mystery. Here is a sneak preview of the song Versions Of Violence, the visual aspect of the video is pretty much non-existent but the audio is pretty good.

If you want to take a listen, there you have it.

Alanis Morissette: Charlie Rose Interview

If you have an hour to spend, watch this interview that Alanis held with Charlie Rose after the release of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and the MTV Unplugged album. She also performs an acoustic version of That I Would Be Good at the end of the hour. Sometimes I just like to hear her speak though.

Alanis Morissette: Not As We

This clip has been on youtube for quite awhile but I guess it just took me being in the mood for Alanis to add it (that's bull, when am I ever not into Alanis? I was just too lazy). Alanis performed this song at The Hotel Cafe in LA last spring and the song has since made an appearance on the tv show "House".

No word yet as to whether it will be featured on her new album Flavors Of Entanglement but I'm hoping it will be. I have a few other fun Alanis video's to add so be ready to get sick of her.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Martie Maguire To Have Another Chick


Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks and her Husband actor Gareth Maguire are expecting their third child late this summer according to the Dixie Chicks official website.

Martie and Gareth are already the proud parents of 3 year old twin daughters Eva and Katie and they are looking forward to having another little girl in the house.

The statement read as follows,

"Dear friends, my husband Gareth and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our third daughter in late summer. Eva and Katie are very excited to have a new baby sister. Three girls, what a magic number!"

Martie had undergone In vitro Fertilization in order to become pregnant with the twins, is this the case in this pregnancy? (most likely).

Whether it is or it isn't, Congratulations to the happy couple. I'm sure Aunties Emily and Natalie are overjoyed as well.

Monday, January 28, 2008

The Isolationist: Starring Tiffany

So what has Tiffany been up to since the release of her latest album? Well, she did many shows during the summer, landed herself at #19 on the Billboard Dancechart with her club hit "Higher" which was released seperate from the album, and now she is stretching her acting legs in two films that are due to be released this year.

The first is the short film The Isolationist (trailer shown above). This 17 minute film is currently in post-production but will be ready to submit to different film festifals this Spring. The trailer pretty much speaks for itself.

The second film is a horror movie called Necrosis that is currently in production. Necrosis follows a group of six friends who go vacationing to a cabin in the mountains and are snowed in. The friends are then haunted by the ghosts of the Donner party who were trapped in the same cabin in 1846 and ended up turning to cannabalism to survive. The friends start suffering from the effects of cabin fever and turn against eachother as their reality deteriorates around them.

I don't think Tiffany has done any acting since she provided the voice for cartoon character Judy Jetson in The Jetson's Movie.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Jay Brannan: Goddamned

Last night (as mentioned earlier) I went to see Jay Brannan in concert downtown at a place called The Supermarket, which is essentially a restaurant with a tiny little backroom where concert performances can be held. As my brother and I entered, Jay was standing off to the side where the merch was being sold, selling and signing specially (home)made cd's each numbered out of 500 all in cardboard sleeves and each displaying a different polaroid of himself on the cover. I love seeing new artists in concert for exactly that kind of reason. You always get special extras that will end up being rare finds years down the road.

The show kicked off with the opening act, Montreal based artist Zara who admitted to scoring the opening spot for the Toronto show by e-mailing Jay with a list of 10 reasons why it should be her. Then Jay hit the stage and every note out of his mouth was perfection. As a special treat for his first ever Toronto show (and second Canadian show) he even did a cover of Jann Arden's "Good Mother" especially for us.

Before we left to see the show I had been watching a few of his blog video's on youtube and fell madly in love with this song and hoped that he would play it. He did end up playing it and I was just as floored hearing it live.

So here is the song Goddamned for your auditory pleasure. The ambulance siren at the end of the song was perfectly timed. More Jay video's to come. Spread the word if you like what you hear.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Jay Brannan: Body's A Temple Video

I could not be more excited right now. Tonight I am going to see my new favorite (male) singer, Jay Brannan, in concert downtown. A Christmas present from my Brother. Fans of indie movies may recognize Jay from his role as the adorable Ceth in John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus", but he is an extremely talented up and coming musician who will put the likes of John Mayer and Jason Mraz to shame with his incredibly brilliant and personable lyrics. Jay doesn't have an official studio album out yet but many of his songs are previewed in his personal video blogs on youtube as well as being available for download through I-tunes.

This is his first official music video for his song Body's A Temple and since I am intoxicated by his music, I will be posting many more of his personal youtube video performances to my blog.

Enjoy as I count the minutes til the show.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Emmy Rossum: Slow Me Down Video

I've got to do something now to make myself feel better after that last post so I've decided to add this video.

My brother recently returned from his trip to New York and while he was there he picked up Emmy Rossum's debut album "Inside Out" for me. It is such a beautifully written piece of work and I am simply "over the moon" in love with it. Many of you will no doubt recognize Emmy from her role as Christine Daae in Joel Schumacher's recent film adaptaion of The Phantom Of The Opera, well most people were expecting the young starlett to release a more classical sounding record, but what she delivered is an amazing mix of pop and ambient sounds that make it a cross between the poppier sound of Sarah Brightman (think the song Eden) and Imogen Heap. I highly suggest picking it up and giving a listen.

Plus she's gorgeous...which is important.

What The Fuck Is Wrong With People?


I'm so upset right now by the sheer audacity of some people. After the news of Heath Ledger's death yesterday the stupid fuck-tards of Rev. Fred Phelps' Hate Group, who are infamous for picketing gay pride events and funerals of homosexual individuals, posted the above message about the young actor, suggesting that they will be picketing his funeral because of his work in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. Never mind the fact that Heath is not even gay, he's a "fag-enabler" (which is the stupidest thing ever), and must apparently be punished for helping to paint homosexuality in a positive light.

Now, I'm not religious in the least but it really pisses me off when people use the "word of God" to do the Devils work. What kind of coward pickets a funeral? That is the most perverse, disgusting thing I have ever heard of and I think those people should be sent right to jail. Clearly they have no families because any sane person with children would never even think about disrespecting the dead while their families are mourning. What's even more disturbing is when these assholes choose to picket the funerals of victims of hate crimes (Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena and many others who are less / not known) just to make the wound deeper.


With all of these religious nuts who say that God will judge you in the end for your lifestyle and choices, I say, I think that if God is supposed to be infallible, then that really leaves no room for judgement of any kind. So I'll live how I want to live and I'll be seeing you and your fucking picket signs in the afterlife where I'll be shoving them up your ass and condemning you for your lifestyle choices. Don't be thinking you can get rid of me that easily.

Wow, what a rant. I'm tired now. Peace be with Heath and everyone.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Rest In Peace Heath Ledger


Dude, what the hell is going on? Two great young actors in a week have passed away. Just as I was getting over the loss of Brad Renfro, Australian actor Heath Ledger, star of such movies as A Knights Tale, Brokeback Mountain, Candy, and Monster's Ball, was found dead in his apartment in New York this afternoon at the age of 28. Although I was never a big fan of his more famous works (A Knights Tale and Brokeback), He was a stunningly good actor who chose really great roles for himself. Please see the movie Candy if you can, it's brilliant and I was also looking forward to seeing him as The Joker in the new Batman prequel "Dark Knight". Plus he can currently be seen in the film "I'm Not There" which has just earned co-star Cate Blanchett an Oscar nomination today.

Heath split from his partner Michelle Williams last year and had spent most of his time living in New York. The couple has a 2 year old daughter, Matilda which makes this news all the more upsetting. No news has been released about the cause of death yet but speculation has been that he was found face down and naked with a bottle of prescription sleeping pills nearby by a massage therapist he had booked to come to his apartment. Heath had reportedly told the New York Times in November that he "stressed out a little too much" during the filming of I'm Not There, and he had been having trouble sleeping and was sometimes relying on sleeping aids to relax himself during the shooting of Dark Knight. Is this just another casualty of overdose?

Rest In Peace Heath. You'll Be Missed.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Lily Miscarries


It has been confirmed through her publicist that British singer Lily Allen, who was expecting her first child with boyfriend Ed Simons of The Chemical Brothers this year, has sadly suffered a miscarriage. The couple had just returned home after a romantic vacation in Maldives.

A source close to the couple has said, “Lily and Ed are in a state of shock. The bad news has been really difficult for them to take and they are absolutely heartbroken. Lily’s entire outlook on life changed after she found out she was pregnant. She was looking forward to being a mum and starting a family with Ed. She had turned her back on her party girl image and had turned over a new leaf. They are surrounded by friends and family who are offering support. It is a really difficult time for them.”

Lily's publicist has asked that the media respect their privacy at this tragic time.

How awful.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Lisa Loeb: The Purple Tape


Long before the reality shows and Grammy award winning albums, Lisa Loeb was the first unsigned artist with a number 1 song on the Billboard charts thanks to her friend Ethan Hawke and the film Reality Bites. This still unbroken record led Lisa to a collection of tour dates around the US before the release of a studio backed album, but she wanted to give something to the group of fans who came to her shows. This decision led to the creation and distribution of a violet-hued cassette tape now infamously referred to as (appropriately enough) The Purple Tape, a collection of demo songs she would use and present to industry bigwigs hoping to score a record deal. This album is considered a rare gem to Lisa fans.

Now Lisa is officially releasing the album as a 2-disc collection for all of her fans to enjoy. The first disc contains the 10 original songs from the cassette remastered, many of them demo versions of songs she would go on to release on her future albums and others that have yet to be released. The second disc includes an exclusive new interview with Lisa and acoustic versions of the songs Stay (I Missed You) and Snow Day.

The ten songs on disc one are,

1) Snow Day
2) Train Song
3) Hurricane
4) Come Back Home
5) It's Over
6) This
7) Days Were Different
8) Guessing Game
9) Do You Sleep?
10) Airplanes


The Purple Tape will be available in stores next Tuesday January 22nd. On top of that Lisa also has a small EP record out for digital download called "Cherries" which contains 6 of Lisa's most requested (but hardest to find) bonus tracks from throughout her career, including...

1) Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries
2) Sandalwood (Full Band Version) (which I have so it can't be that hard to find)
3) Look Me In The Eye
4) Birds (which I also have)
5) Eno Ambient # 5
6) Dance With The Angels (Live)

And as if that weren't enough Lisa will be releasing her second children's music album "Camp Lisa" (which follows the success of her first "Catch The Moon") as well as a new studio album later this year.

Watch Lisa on the Conan O'Brien Show tomorrow night on NBC.

Sheryl Crow: Detours


Sheryl Crow's new album Detours will be released in stores on February 5th. This is the first album from Sheryl since her album Wildflower was released in 2005 and since then she has experienced many things that have no doubt inspired many of the songs on this record. As well as breaking up with her fiance Lance Armstrong, battling breast cancer and adopting her son Wyatt, the ever political Sheryl has also written songs concerning the state of the worlds environment and the ravages of Hurricane Katrina.

The track listing is....

1) God Bless This Mess
2) Shine Over Babylon (which is available as a promotional single for download on I-tunes)
3) Love Is Free (the official first single)
4) Peace Be Upon Us
5) Gasoline (see the video previously posted on this blog)
6) Out Of Our Heads
7) Detours
8) Now That You're Wrong
9) Drunk With The Thought Of You
10) Diamond Ring
11) Motivation
12) Make It Go Away (Radiation Song) (Clearly about the cancer)
13) Love Is All There Is
14) Lullaby For Wyatt

Sheryl returned to working with producer Bill Bottrell who previously worked with her on her breakout album Tuesday Night Music Club. Will the sound be similar? Buy a copy and find out. Sheryl released a promotional video for Shine Over Babylon through her official website, look for it on here soon. Also, Wikipedia is reporting that the album will have 2 bonus songs, Doctor My Eyes and Here Comes The Sun. Whether this is true or not, I don't know.

Sex and the City: The Movie Teaser Trailer

As promised here is the teaser trailer for the Sex And The City Movie.

Hello Lover indeed! One more spoiler I forgot to mention. Mr. Big does go by his first name, John which was revealed at the end of the television series and we may even get a last name to go along with that.

Sex And The City: The Movie Poster


The Sex And The City movie release draws ever closer and I for one cannot wait. With all of the pictures and rumours from the shoot circling around the Internet (Sarah Jessica in a God-awful wedding dress, Kristen Davis is a pregnancy suit, Kim Cattrall in LA) it's hard to tell false from true and what exactly the plot entails. But it has been confirmed by the brilliant Michael Patrick King that all of your favorite characters are returning, including all the men you know and love, Magda, the original baby who played Miranda's son Brady (who is now four), Bitsy von Muffling, and Oscar-Winner Jennifer Hudson adds to the ensemble as Carrie's assistant Louise. All I really know about the film is that it is in real time (meaning that four years have past in the lives of the Girls), Carrie is an established writer on her 2nd or 3rd book by now, and Samantha spends her time between New York and LA because of her job.

The Movie is set for a May 30th release, and I will be adding many video's, including the teaser trailer in the next little bit.

Will you get Carried away?

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Discipline Album Cover


This is the cover of Janet Jackson's tenth studio album "Discipline". What does everybody think? I like it personally. Janet has recently spoken about her idea's for the album and it's title,

"Discipline has been much on my mind," she says. "It's the idea that unifies the songs on this record. As a concept, and even a lifestyle, discipline goes extremely deep. It can be applied to so much about ourselves. In my case, I see it as one of defining aspects of my character. Discipline was there for me from the start. But it was not until this record that I began to understand its full meaning.

In putting Discipline out front-- as both the title of the album and title of a song about sexual surrender--I wanted to announce that I was venturing into new creative waters. That meant working with producers like Jermaine Dupri, Rodney Jerkins, and Ne-Yo, whose songs spoke to the immediacy of my emotions. Like all my records, this one, whether intentional or not, has autobiographical roots. It's difficult for me to work any other way. I don't feel it, if I don't believe it, I can't sing it.

So Discipline, as a storyline, begins in my childhood which someone could see as a classic study in discipline. Discipline was part of a family culture that I absorbed. I was born with it."


Confirmed songs that will be on the album are

Feedback (of course)
Roller Coaster
Discipline
Can't Be Good
Letchu Go

Be sure to pick up your copy on the 26th of February.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Rest In Peace Brad


The acting world lost a great young talent today when actor Brad Renfro passed away at the age of 25. The star of such movies as The Client, The Cure (one of my favorite movies), Apt Pupil, Deuces Wild, and Bully (another fave) was found dead in his Los Angeles home at 9 am this morning. There have been no details as to the cause of death yet but speculation was quick to jump to his troubles with drug and alcohol addiction. He had reportedly been attempting to get clean and sober for the past year after a judge ordered him into a drug rehabilitation program following an attempt to buy heroin and recently finished a movie with Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton called The Informers. I'm personally upset by this news because he was one of my favorite actors. Why do the talented ones always die so young?

Rest In Peace Brad.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Alanis Morissette - Underneath

Alanis is meant to be releasing her new album "Flavors Of Entanglement" in the spring (release date is still unknown) but her award winning video that she made for her song Underneath for the Elevate Films Festival is now available in High Quality for you to view right here.

There is still no word on whether this will be an official single from the album, but damn it's a great song and she did such a wonderful job directing the video.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Idina Menzel: I Stand


Not long to go now. Idina Menzel's new album "I Stand" (her first with the Warner Bros. label) will be available in stores on January 29th. I personally can't wait and each and every video blog added to her official site is just getting me more and more excited. I've heard three of the songs from the album already and if they are any indication of the rest of the album, it is going to be incredible.

I just stopped by Amazon.com to find out the full track listing for the record and here it is...

1) I Stand
2) Better To Have Loved
3) Brave
4) Gorgeous
5) Where Do I Begin?
6) Don't Let Me Down
7) I Feel Everything
8) Forever
9) Enemy
10) Perfume and Promises



Wikipedia is also reporting that an acoustic version of Brave and the reworked version of Defying Gravity that she released as a single last spring will be featured as bonus songs. The album was completely produced and co-written (except for one song) by Glen Ballard. I haven't heard any word on a music video being released for the first single "Brave" which makes me wonder if there is going to be one. Fingers crossed, you'd think she'd want to do some kind of promotion. Pretty album cover though, huh?

Janet Jackson - Feedback Music Video

This is the hot new video for Janet's first single off her forthcoming 10th studio album "Discipline" which is being released February 26th.

Rumours are circulating that Janet might be hitting the road with her Brothers (including Michael) when they start their Jackson 5 reunion tour. Just imagine what that show would be like. Sweet Lord I hope it's true because Miss Jackson has three new albums worth of material to tour with. I was heartbroken when the tour for 20 Y.O. never materialized despite her plans and rehearsals to make it happen. Don't let me down again.