The performer [M.I.A.] became engaged last week to Benjamin Brewer, the son of Warner Music Group Chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr., according to sources close to the singer. Brewer is a guitarist for New York alt-rock band The Exit, whose biggest claim to fame might be having the song Susan appear on the American Pie 2 soundtrack. It is not known if the couple has set a wedding date or location.
Quick update before I head out to do something productive today…
Last night I headed out to the wilderness that is known as Terminal 5 here in NYC in order to see the first night of The Raconteurs‘ three-show stand in the city.
Having never been to the venue before, I was quite surprised by the “open your bags” and pat down procession that greeted me at the entrance. Once inside, I walked through the opening hallway and into a space that immediately struck me as being the place where evil concert-goers go to die. With a ground floor overstuffed with a sea of towering, beer-wielding dudes, I was immediately struck with fear.
Since I hadn’t eaten dinner, as the opening act Black Keys Lips played, I scurried through the crowd, trying to locate the stairs in order to get to the 3rd floor where Empanada Mama had a stall. I navigated to the back of the crowd only to find the bar, past the glowing ATM machine (???), finally finding the stairway to what I would soon find to be just a vertically higher version of concert hell.
I mean, this one-time superclub is so hideously large that they need to have MAPS telling you where you are. That was probably the nail on the coffin for me. Take a look at what they have posted on the wall:
(OK, I made a few modifications to the map. Click on the image for LARGER VERSION)
The Shoe sounds anti-folk, much like bands like the Moldy Peaches. When she’s not making music, you can catch Jena blogging about music she’s made about blogging over at IFC’s “Guest List” blog and on the Myspace.
The Raconteurs just want to have fun. Loud and bombastic with an arsenal of infectious riffs, the quartet plays with swagger, a wry sense of humor and one, singular message: Let’s rock. Hear The Raconteurs in a full concert, live on NPR.org tonight (May 27). The performance from Washington, D.C.’s 9:30 Club will begin at approximately 10:00 p.m. ET.
I kinda loved these commercials that aired tonight of both David Cook and David Archuleta from American Idol doing an homage to Risky Business–even though it’s an ad for Guitar Hero.
Tonight when I was watching my eyeliner-wearing boo, David Cook, win American Idol, I found myself staring at an obvious iTunes commercial.
But who–who–was the band in the commercial? “Uh, is this Depeche Mode?” I thought, until I saw Jonny Buckland’s profile and subsequently squealed, “OMG, it’s Coldplay. Oh man!”
The band is advertising their “exclusive” deal with iTunes for their single “Viva la Vida.”
I for one am not super keen on it–IMHO it looks like they are being surrounded by Technicolor farts.
The new N.E.R.D. video for their single “Everybody Nose” features cameos by Kanye West, Samantha Ronson, and Lindsay Lohan. Shot by director Diane Martel (who also shot “Conquest” for the White Stripes), still photos by Last Night’s Party:
As of May 15th, Ryan and Mandy Moore are still hanging out, and as of May 15th, Ryan is still suffering from the worst bedhead/botched dye job possible:
Some complaining about Coldplay’s crappy contract with EMI/Capitol from Chris in this interview in the Guardian, surprised?
Chris Martin tries to explain why Coldplay isn’t doing cool free/instant/independent things like bands he obviously admires/looks up to like Radiohead and the Raconteurs:
“Being on a major label at the moment is like living in your grandparents’ house,” Chris Martin confessed to Reuters this week. “Everyone knows they need to move out, and they will eventually, but we kind of like our grandmother.”
“We have absolute respect for the Radioheads and Raconteurs and people who can do what they like,” he said. “[The standard major label approach] is obviously an antiquated model because of the internet. We’re in contract though, so we’re just going to make the most of it and enjoy the people we get to work with.”
“We felt we fucked up so royally in New York when we were setting up X&Y,” he said. “We did an AOL thing, which was fine to do, but we tried to mix it with a buzz gig and we just came across as a huge and very impersonal corporation.”
