Music Filter: Music

What to See at SXSW

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:28:25 GMT

The SXSW music festival is a full-out assault. The streets can be a bear to navigate, the music on Sixth Street breaks down into loud and louder, and the schedule is so overstuffed that every minute spent listening to a musician tune up makes you wonder whether you missed the boat to see a better act in any of the 19 other venues you have circled on the calendar. The fest requires a Zen-like approach -- plan, but don't plan. Or at least don't be afraid to tear it up when it dawns on you that some obscure Cleveland garage band that has been knocking around for 20 years might well be the more important act to catch than the flavor du jour from England ...

Read more on MSN Music

Frere-Yorker

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:37:19 GMT

This week’s issue of America’s finest publication, The New Yorker, features the fiftieth column by America’s best music critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, who has been the magazine’s pop music critic for the past few years. The Column concerns Damon Albarn of Blur, Gorillaz, and The Good, The Bad and The Queen, whose most recent project is the scoring of an opera called “Monkey: Journey to the West.” As with much of Frere-Jones’s criticism, it’s difficult to say where he stands on Albarn’s history as a rocker turned pop singer turned world music dabbler and now highbrow aesthete. But, as with his recent pieces about Spoon, Feist and Arcade Fire, plus older ones about the White Stripes and Coldplay, Frere-Jones never shrinks from taking artists to task for their shortcomings, even while praising their brilliance. Anyway, these columns aren’t really about saying yea or nay. He leaves Consumer Guides to others. Here's a writer who writes about the immovable interesting parts of music, music makers and music fandom in an age when everything about all three is supposed to be changing.

Live Earth: Concerts for a Climate in Crisis

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:58:15 GMT

Pretty amazing. Millions of people, music spanning the globe -- there's even a concert on Antarctica. Check it out on liveearth.msn.com -- live streams from around the world, video on-demand, photo galleries, news and more.

-- Ben

Music of the Year (of the Month)-An Update

Tue, 15 May 2007 22:28:03 GMT

It's been a while, I know, but it's not as though I haven't been busy. We don't need to discuss every last thing I've been doing, but I will say this: 2007 remains an incredible year for records. Yes, RECORDS. Singles, too, and downloads or whatever, but to those pundits who insist on insisting that the long playing album has been killed by the video star of track-by-track digital file trading, I can only offer the following rejoinders:

Dinosaur Jr. "Beyond" J. Mascis, the original guitar hero of the anti-hero alt-rock underground, returns, accompanied by his original rhythm section, Lou Barlow (also of Sebadoh), and Murph. In this year of reunions, here's a band that actually sounds as good, if not better than it did when it split. And the songs are better, too. Though Mascis's formula (killer leads, crushing volume, laconic vocals) hasn't changed, there' a vitality in this album that any rock band, young, old, or reunited should take note of. And Barlow's two songs (especially "Back to Your Heart") rank with the best work of his incredible post-Dino career. I hope they make another one.

Fountains of Wayne "Traffic and Weather" The uncanny knack for hooks that stick in your brain like a pick-ax, the unabashed humor of the rhymes, the classic rock-solid song construction and musicianship--all of the FoW elements are in place on this massively assured, almost perversely pleasing record.

Great Northern-"Trading Twilight for Daylight" It'd be easy to reduce this incredible debut record to a blast of nostalgia for the mid-'90s alternative rock heyday, when a lot of fuzzy guitar pop bands featuring guys'n'girls singing in harmonmy dotted the landscape. This record is better than nostalgia, however, because it's actually happening. (Plus, if this were the '90s, this album would've been on a major label, and all over MTV and the radio, and you would've pretended not to like it.) Smart, sweet, and sad, just like pop songs oughtta be. And good luck EVER getting "Staring Into the Sun" out of you head, because you can't. Ever.

Blonde Redhead-"23" Quite possibly the three most attractive human beings who ever picked up a guitar, bass, and drums (it's kind of cheating because two of them are twins) return with a drony, mellow masterpiece. The nervous aggression that distinguished their early work has been replaced by a throbbing lushness that calls to mind My Bloody Valentine. The music is both spare and complex, and the singing, handled largely by Kazu Makino, is ethereal and haunting. Perfect for late nights.

Lavender Diamond-"Imagine Our Love" I'll confess that there are certain aspects of this band's hippie vibe (i believe "vibe" is the word, but I'll have to check with my colleague Ben to make sure) that rub me slightly wrong, but such reservations are wiped away by the life-affirming splendor of singer Becky Stark's soaring, powerful voice. The music is methodical and physically insistent, the lyrics romantically earnest but not cloying, and the vocal melodies, again, just astonishing. Plus, with a name like Lavender Diamond, you know they're at least partially joking. And partially is plenty.

And a few others that I'll be going back to as time allows:

Youth Group-"Casino Twilight Dogs"

Charlotte Gainsbourg-"5:55"

Let's Go Sailing-"The Chaos in Order"

Betty Davis-"Betty Davis" & "They Say I'm Different" reissues.

Yoko Ono-"Yes, I'm a Witch"

Until then.

-Sean Nelson, MSN Music Editor

Exclusive interview with Patti Smith

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:14:13 GMT

Excerpted:

"I have endless lists of songs," she says, sitting calm and still on a sofa in a Sony Music conference room. "The list has changed and morphed, and it changed even while I was doing the record. I think out of the original 12, I did six, and six other songs just found their place in it as if I had no say in the matter. The record evolved organically, a combination of design and fate."

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Interview with LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:27:09 GMT

There is little to understand about why James Murphy, the majordomo of LCD Soundsystem and half of the remix/production team of the DFA, appeals so much to music nerds. He's one himself -- a staggeringly knowledgeable, savagely funny one. That's not even in person or via his interviews -- that's on his records ... Over the phone from his New York studio, he's every bit as engaged as his music.

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Re: Masters / Ray Manzarek of the Doors

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 22:13:16 GMT

Ray Manzarek Talks Doors Records, Morrison's Poetry and Soft Drugs.

Manzarek expresses wild enthusiasm about the new remasters and the legacy of the definitive Los Angeles band. The cozmik hippie-speak he often slips into, entirely irony-free, jumps out of the phone across three time zones.

"We were four guys who opened the doors of perception, and said come join us in a state of freedom," says Manzarek. "You listen to that band and you can sense that they are free men, beholden to no one but the love in their own hearts."

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Alan Light is the former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe and Tracks magazines and a former senior writer at Rolling Stone. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, GQ and Entertainment Weekly. His book "The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys" was published in 2006. Alan is a two-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music writing.

Consumer Guide or April/May

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 22:13:05 GMT

Beck gets a B PLUS, the Arcade Fire get the coveted A PLUS, and much more in our latest installment.

Win Butler ... and his large band of unarty art-rockers rock so hard and so beautiful they can propel anyone who listens past the end of the record. They thud rather than thunder. But what a loud and joyous thud it is.

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Another Country

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:53:05 GMT

The return of Lucinda Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Patty Griffin:

These women are innovators who refuse to be strictly defined by any one genre. And yet, by virtue of their achievements as composers, recording artists, or both, all three command the respect of Music City. They also offer a powerful antidote to a popular culture fixated on youth and obvious sexuality ... and all three are returning with some of the boldest statements of their careers.

-- Ben

ICON SERIES: Van Halen

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:43:19 GMT

Excerpted from the newest feature article on MSN Music:

Often thought of as silly cartoon relics from the early '80s, Van Halen's volcanic recipe -- equal parts David Lee Roth's campy lyrics and Eddie Van Halen's musical virtuosity, salted with punk rock energy and soaring harmonies -- has aged amazingly well.
Combining impeccable pop instincts with an atomic overdrive sound, VH's music captured the beauty and vulgarity of the Sunset Strip, taking stock of all the garbage, smog, and broken dreams that littered its serpentine path to the glittering Pacific. In capturing this dichotomy through the pop idiom, VH brought Los Angeles' boulevard of broken dreams to every American teenager lost in the empire wilderness. There are few acts more deserving for entry into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Download Arcade Fire's "Black Mirror"

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:25:28 GMT

Download Arcade Fire's "Black Mirror," plus more on this week's hottest release (their latest full-length, "Neon Bible").

Download and read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

MSN Music Presents ... O.A.R.

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:43:44 GMT

Watch a webcast of these self-made superstars performing live on MSN Music.

MSN Music Presents ... O.A.R.: Watch concert

-- Ben

Pete Townshend On the Who, the Solo Albums and Not Being Misunderstood

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:20:08 GMT

From the March installment of Alan Light's Re: Masters column:

It might seem like a strange time for Pete Townshend to be revisiting his solo work. After all, last year's "Endless Wire" reunited him with Roger Daltrey for the first album of new material from the Who in 24 years, and the band is currently in the middle of a lengthy, worldwide tour.
Yet, the incomparable guitarist and songwriter recently released two retrospective projects -- "The Definitive Pete Townshend" compilation and a CD/DVD Dualdisc reissue of "Rough Mix," his outstanding 1977 collaboration with former Faces bass player Ronnie Lane. In a series of e-mail interviews, Townshend said that it wasn't difficult to switch gears from working with the Who to thinking about his own back catalog. "With music, once you get rolling, the problem is to try to keep rolling," he wrote. "When you slow down or stop, it's very hard to get going again."

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:53:26 GMT

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been courting controversy among rock and rap die-hards since 1986. Perhaps more than in any other year, this year's ceremony -- Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Ronettes, R.E.M, Patti Smith and Van Halen will be inducted on March 12 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York -- functions as a commentary on the idea of the word "alternative." In their respective heydays, each of these artists was considered radical, even revolutionary (OK, not the Ronnettes so much, but they were pretty great). The fact that that they're about to be so irrevocably institutionalized -- it doesn't get much more institutional than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- forces fans to look back, not only at the artists' careers, but at their own understanding of what their favorite music means.

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Robin Thicke live in concert

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:59:44 GMT

Watch Robin Thicke live in concert, Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. We are streaming a webcast of his performance Jan. 31, 2007 at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami, FL -- but if you miss the full stream (which will be live for 24 hours), you can still watch clips of each song in the set list. Plus, read a review of his latest album, view photos and more.

MSN Music Presents ... Robin Thicke: Watch concert

-- Ben

Nas live in concert

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:22:15 GMT

Watch noted hip-hop artist Nas live in concert tonight on MSN Music! We are streaming a webcast of his performance Jan. 31, 2007 at the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami, FL, beginning at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET. If you miss the full stream (which will be live for 24 hours), you can still watch clips of each song in the set list. Plus, hear his latest album and read a review, view photos and more.

MSN Music Presents ... Nas: Watch concert

-- Ben

Watch exclusive video: Harry Connick Jr. on New Orleans

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:52:03 GMT

He returned to his roots with two new releases that pay musical homage to his hometown ("Oh, My NOLA" and the all-instrumental "Chanson du Vieux Carré") and it paid off -- you voted him your Artist of the Month for February (vote for next month's). A portion of the royalties from each album will go to the New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village charity.

Now, watch exclusive clips of an interview with the Big Easy native, on topics ranging from Bourbon Street to Tipitina's to the Mississippi River, and listen to both new albums.

Watch videos, listen to albums and more

-- Ben

Shrug's 49th Grammys West Coast 3-Hour Delay Blog -- Live!

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:03:39 GMT

Inspired by MSNBC's live Super Bowl blog last week, I thought I'd do a pithy minute-by-minute blog on the 49th Grammys -- Live! (Minus the 3-hour West Coast delay.)

8:01pm - Hey! Sting finally has a decent backup band! I love this new minimalist direction!

8:04pm - I just found out OK Go's "Here It Comes Again" won Best Short-Form Video. That, if I may say so, satisfies all the hopes I could have had about tonight's ceremony.

8:06pm - Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals goes to Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder. Over "Promiscuous" and "Hips Don't Lie." This announcement brought to you by the AARP.

8:09pm - Joan Baez introduces the Dixie Chicks, singing "Not Ready to Make Nice." If I can make a prediction at this early stage (three hours later), I say it's gonna be a Dixie Chick night. Lots of pissed-off fist pumpers in the front row. This is actually kind of a chilling performance.

8:14pm - I gotta remember to get vegetable shortening at the store tomorrow.

8:18pm - Prince walks onstage after no introduction, mutters something I can't make out, and gives way to Beyonce. Blender praises his "economy" and names the moment Album of the Year.

8:21pm - Booker T. & the MG's get a (long-deserved) Lifetime Achievement Award. Fergie seems so excited about it she can hardly... no, I won't say it.

8:24pm - Mary J. Blige wins Best R&B Album -- deservedly -- and makes oblique references to the people who have "spoken about (her) negatively" over the past few years. Eh? Who?

8:26pm - In the door prize portion of the show, Queen Latifah announces the finalists for the "Sing a Duet With Justin Timberlake" contest to be held a little later. Second prize: A new set of steak knives. Third prize: You're fired!

8:33pm - By the way, the next episode of Saturday Night Live on NBC is the one that Justin Timberlake hosted last December. You should watch it. It was a shockingly fine episode. Yes, this is the one with "D___ In a Box." You can see it on Saturday night, in Hi-Def. If you know what I mean.

8:37pm - Justin Timberlake, in loving tribute to Britney's current paparazzi, sings a song while holding a small, handheld camera on his face.

8:39pm - Natalie Cole does not age.

8:41pm - Slayer wins best Metal Performance! The caterwauling souls of the walking dead lift their severed digits in celebration!

8:45pm - I mean, I never said anything negative about Mary J. Blige. Did you?

8:47pm - Lewis Black wins Best Comedy Recording. I am also very happy about that.

8:51pm - The voices came back last night. In a nightmare. I was in a French bistro and the water glass filled with blood. And in the distance I heard the bones of my ancestors rattling. O Lord, stop my transgressions, cleanse me of my disease.

8:55pm - Corinne Bailey Rae looks adorable in that black dress.

8:58pm - John Mayer wins for Best Pop Vocal Album. I didn't realize until literally two minutes ago what a guitar god he is.

9:08pm - Shakira's being able to move every limb in her body independently fills me with fear.

9:10pm - Song of the Year? Already? (Three hours ago?) Dixie Chicks win it for "Not Ready To Make Nice." Please, somebody say something inflammatory.

9:13pm - Oooh, wow. They just panned to one of the guys in Big & Rich after the Dixie Chicks' acceptance speech -- sat there looking absolutely stone-faced. If looks could kill. Jeez, you'd think Bush's approval ratings were above freezing.

9:14pm - Heineken ad featuring Squeeze's "Tempted." I'd be more cynical, but Difford & Tilbrook are getting money from it, which I fully support.

9:18pm - The Grateful Dead get a lifetime achievement award. Mickey Hart takes a break from his drum solo to thank the crowd.

9:21pm - Gnarls Barkley perform "Crazy" dressed up as airline pilots. They have two briefcases at their sides. They redo the song in a 60's style, sort of "Goldfinger" mixed with Ravel's "Bolero." Cee-Lo walks through the crowd to take the main Grammy stage, with full orchestra and choir behind him. He is still dressed up as an airline pilot. If there were any doubts that Gnarls Barkley were the coolest mofos in the room, they are now extinguished.

9:23pm - Alas, poor YORICK!

9:24pm - Common and Kanye West present Best Rap Album. Common teases West about his complaining over not winning awards before. Hilarious. Ludacris wins the award for Release Therapy. He shaved off his hair. (Should've gone to Lupe Fiasco, but I have no problem with Luda winning anything.)

9:26pm - Ludacris thanks "Bill O'Reilly -- I luv ya!" I take that back -- Luda can have anything he wants.

9:40pm - Dixie Chicks win again for Country Album of the Year. They get a standing ovation. Or I should say, the camera pans only on the people giving them a standing ovation.

9:45pm - Though not in substance, yet in form, the struggle of the proletariat with the bourgeoisie is at first a national struggle. The proletariat of each country must, of course, first of all settle matters with its own bourgeoisie.

9:48pm - Reba. Just Reba.

9:49pm - Carrie Underwood acquits herself quite well with a version of Bob Wills' "San Antonio Rose." Simon Cowell says, "I like you, but you're just too... retro, darling, you know? Randy? Paula? No, no... over here, Paula."

9:51pm - ...and in the most awkward segue ever, we go from Underwood/Wills to Rascal Flatts singing "Hotel California" in honor of Don Henley, the MusicCares Person of the Year.

9:53pm - Speaking of, this is one of my favorite McSweeney's pieces ever.

9:54pm - Carrie Underwood does "Desperado." This is tonight's Valvoline Saw-It-Coming-From-A-Mile-Away Moment of the Day.

9:57pm - I can't stand it! Only two minutes left in the voting for the Sing With Justin Timberlake Contest! (Three hours ago.)

9:59pm - Insert astronaut-in-diaper joke here as non-sequitor.

10:00pm - Ornette Coleman and Natalie Cole. Coleman is there to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Cole has actually turned back to 31 years of age since the last time we saw her on camera. Cole & Coleman stick around to give the award for Best New Artist, which goes to... please let it not be James Blunt...

10:01pm - Nope. Carrie Underwood. I'm fine with that.

10:02pm - Kate says: "Natalie Cole either doesn't age at all, or has the most phenomenal plastic surgeons that have ever walked the earth."

10:07pm - Oh, I know what it was. I ran into Mary J. at Jerry's Deli, and I remarked on her new earrings, and I said, "Those really compliment your outfit," only it might have sounded sarcastic. But I really meant it! They were really nice, these little hoop-shaped things, and I... geez, I just put my foot in my mouth every time I... You know what? I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

10:11pm - Lionel Richie appears to return his 1985 Grammy for Album of the Year for Can't Slow Down and rightfully give it to either Prince or Bruce Springsteen... oh, wait, he's just performing "Hello."

10:13pm - And now, performing a dance routine to Chris Brown's "Run It," ladies and gentlemen -- Mummenshantz!

10:17pm - Christina Aguilera performs James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." Let's sit back and enjoy it together.

10:19pm - I think I just became a Christina Aguilera fan.

10:24pm - I told them to build me an assassin. I wanted a killer from a world filled with killers, and they chose you because they thought it would bind me closer to them. But now we have come almost to the end. One last step -- and then, when I take power, they will be pulled down and ground into dirt for what they did to you -- and what they did in so contemptuously underestimating me!

10:25pm - Hey, it's the President of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow! "Free Bird"!! "Free Bird"!!!

10:32pm - Unbelievably poignant moment in tribute to James Brown. At his legendary live shows, Brown's emcee Danny Ray would come onstage and drape Brown in a cape to take him off. Brown would shake the cape off his back, and go back to the microphone to give 'em just a little bit more. They'd repeat this routine towards the end of every show. Tonight, Ray just came onstage and draped the Godfather's cape over a bare microphone stand. Hard to not get choked up.

10:37pm - Rihanna and David Spade, who says "David Bowie and Iman couldn't be here tonight, so..."

10:43pm - James Blunt, doing a surprise rendition of the Adverts' "Gary Gilmore's Eyes"!!!

10:44pm - Just kidding. It's "You're Beautiful." For the millionth time.

10:45pm - I keep hearing "You're Beautiful" is bound to be played at wedding receptions for the next twenty years, placing it alongside the Police's "Every Breath You Take" as the most inappropriate wedding reception song you could possibly pick. Attention, all fathers-of-the-bride planning the playlist: THIS SONG IS SOMEBODY COMPLAINING THAT HE CAN NEVER HAVE THE WOMAN OF HIS DREAMS. IT IS WHOLLY INAPPROPRIATE FOR THIS CEREMONY, UNLESS YOUR SOON-TO-BE SON-IN-LAW HAS THE SPINE OF A TAPEWORM! STOP! DO NOT ASK THE DJ/PICKUP BAND TO PLAY THIS SONG!

10:49pm - And don't overdo it with the finger food, either. I know spring rolls are fun, but one false move and somebody gets a seaweed corsage. Your daughter will hate you forever.

10:50pm - Your eyes don't deceive you: Prince just bought commercial time during the Grammys to thank people for watching the Super Bowl halftime show. Such a nice boy!

10:52pm - Here it comes -- the Sing-A-Date-With-Justin-Timberlake winner! Jennifer Hudson announces it! I can hardly stand myself!

10:53pm - It's.... it's.... Robyn! Yes! Whoo-hoo! High-five! She and Justin sing "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers! What a moment!

10:54pm - An infuriated Kanye West insists that he should have won the Justin Timberlake contest.

10:56pm - Jarvis Cocker of Pulp shows up and heckles Justin & Robyn from the podium.

10:57pm - A gyrating Soy Bomb appears and offers Justin some wheat germ.

10:58pm - In an ironic twist, David Niven streaks across the stage behind Justin & Robyn.

10:59pm - Finally, Robyn sends a Native American woman onstage to refuse the award.

11:00pm - Record of the Year, presented by Quentin Tarantino and Tony Bennett. Quentin is very, very excited. This better go to "Crazy."

11:01pm - Dixie Chicks. Ah well. More shots of country stars seething, please.

11:02pm - If you haven't yet noticed, we're going long. We still have two awards left: Best Rock Album and Album of the Year.

11:08pm - Red Hot Chili Peppers, fully dressed. Chris Rock has a great line, something to the effect of "These guys put their junk in socks way before Justin Timberlake put his (bleep) in a box!"

11:10pm - Chili Peppers play in front of a hand-painted banner reading "Love to Ornette Coleman." Very classy. Seriously, I'm not being sarcastic.

11:11pm - White ticker tape falls over the audience! The Red Hot Chili Peppers are NFL Champions!!

11:13pm - Presenting the Rock Album Award is... Queen Latifah and Al Gore?

11:14pm - Relax, guys, that's Al Gore, not Tipper. Speak freely.

11:15pm - The award goes to Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I believe Rick Rubin has been thanked more than God tonight.

11:16pm - Rick Rubin either produced or co-produced these Grammy winners tonight:

Dixie Chicks' Taking The Long Way
Red Hot Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium
Slayer's Christ Illusion

Quick: Find the one that's not even remotely like the others.

11:23pm - The show is now 23 minutes over. I'm tired of this. I just checked the grammy.com site to find out who won Album of the Year. I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say I was right.

11:24pm - Don Henley and Scarlett Johansson to announce Album of the Year. ~~Wilford Brimley~~ Henley gives the Dixie Chicks some special love, and announces that Rick Rubin has won Non-Classical Producer of the Year. Duh.

11:25pm - Dixie Chicks win Album of the Year. They sweep the three top awards. Point gloriously taken. Natalie! Say something outrageous!! The Filth and the Fury!!! Please!!!!!

11:27pm - They say nothing confrontational. Show over. I'd like to thank my producers and Jesus Christ. To my daughter Lucie, Daddy won! Go to bed!

-- Shrug

A new column by Alan Light

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:34:32 GMT

We're proud to launch a new column by Alan Light, called "Re: Masters." The first installment deals with "The Piano" by Tori Amos.

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

Arena Anthems

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:14:13 GMT

Read about the "Five Greatest Sports Anthems of All Time" (according to John Moe):

The emotional power of music cannot be denied and must not be ignored. Anyone who's air guitared along with an Eddie Van Halen solo, wept in perfect empathy with Morrissey's intractable sadness, or, when told by Prince to do so, went crazy, can appreciate the visceral potency of a good song. Thus it stands to reason that a well-placed song at a crucial moment in an athletic contest can alter the mood of the crowd, reposition the psyche of the players and, in some cases, determine who wins or loses. So, of the vast universe of songs that are churned out on a daily basis, why do only a handful make it into heavy stadium and arena rotation?

Read more on MSN Music

-- Ben

New in 2007

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:07:45 GMT

MSN Music Gets a New Design

In addition to a great new look, we've made all our great content more accessible: Check out the new Features, Interviews and Reviews pages; plus all your old favorites like Listening Booth [listen to full albums for free], Artist of the Month [vote for your favorites], Ones to Watch [new and notable artists], the Consumer Guide [by Robert Christgau] and more.

-- Ben

The Best of 2006 -- MSN Music Editor Sean Nelson Sounds Off

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:03:55 GMT

Our "Top" lists of 2006: "Top 10 Albums," "Top 10 Singles," "No. 1 Biggest Rip Off of M.I.A.'s 'Galang' That Ever Became a Much Bigger Hit Than the Original," "Five Albums We Tried to Like But Couldn't, Despite the Fact that Everyone Else in the World Seemed to Love Them Wholeheartedly (and We Blame Ourselves, Obviously)" and lots more.

-- Ben

An exclusive interview with Robert Plant

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 19:15:08 GMT

Part one of our exclusive interview with Robert Plant [written by Ashley Kahn] is now online. Check it out (and our new look and feel) today.

I think as far as going for the commercial jugular -- trying to write
hits and get big radio -- that's not a successful way of doing it. Even
with Led Zeppelin, it was not just based on monetary gain, it was
based on feeding the soul. That's what the whole deal is about for
me continuing. I may be a shadow really of what that great thing
was but I'm very confident and focused in the way I go about it.
-- Robert Plant

I guess this is one way for us to say, Happy New Year.

--Ben

Legendary Critic Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:12:32 GMT

MSN Music is proud to present Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide. Full of commentary and critique, it's both fun to read and useful. With over thirty years of experience evaluating music, Christgau knows how to get it done.

This installment includes reviews of Bob Dylan's "Modern Times" (it receives the extremely rare "A plus" grade) and the Who's "Endless Wire" (it receives the unhappy title "Dud of the Month").

Read the Consumer Guide

--Ben

Bits and Pieces – Wednesday

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 02:25:14 GMT

ROCK/POP

Kaiser Chiefs and Artic Monkeys squash beef. (Source: Monsters and Critics)
David Bowie, Cream, Merle Haggard and Richard Pryor to receive lifetime achievement Grammy Awards. (A little late for Pryor though, yah?) (Source: FMQB)

HIP-HOP/R&B

You gotta give 'em credit for a great title: next Isley Bros. album to be called Baby Makin' Music. (Source: Billboard)
How a country rocker became king of hip-hop DVDs. (Source: The Bible of Hip-Hop)
Xzibit's going all cartoony. (Source: SOHH.com)

COUNTRY

Music industry worth $6.4 billion to Nashville's economy. (Source: KRISTV.com)
Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts becomes the fastest selling country album in history. (Source: Country Weekly)

TECHNOLOGY

Critics used to point out, "but the iPod doesn't even have an FM tuner." What now, haters? (Source: Digital Music News)

"Justin is a Hero to Some..."

Mon, 03 Oct 2005 19:21:03 GMT

Memphis may be one of the Western world's more storied musical cities, but rep alone doesn't pay the taxes. Over the years the one-time home of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Elvis Presley has fallen into a state of sad disrepair, with rampant unemployment, crime and poverty the norm. With the city's two cornerstone record labels, Sun (Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison) and Stax (Redding, Booker T. and the M.G.s), a shadow of their former selves, boy band frontman-turned-renaissance guy Justin Timberlake is plotting a series of moves designed to restore the small Tennessee city's pride.

Timberlake is exploring the possibility of purchasing both labels, either in the hopes of reviving them or simply folding them (and their considerable brand names) into his recently launched JayTee Records imprint. For now, the story seems a bit far-fetched. Stax is still worth something in the neighborhood of one billion dollars, and it's highly doubtful that Timberlake has that kind of coin to throw around. And, despite the excitement of a rejuvenated downtown, all are not happy with Timberlake's presence. Memphis' current scene consists of dozens of small labels and independent studios, some of whom fear that the presence of J.T. and JayTee will destroy their chances for survival. (Source: Guardian UK)

(For a different take on the current state of Memphis--and for a different way of contextualizing all those "Justin is the biggest thing to hit Memphis since Elvis"-type comments--check out this profile of the ever-slimming Memphis rap pioneers Three 6 Mafia, whose depiction of their hometown is anything but cheerful. The trio's latest album, Most Known Unknown, was released last week.)