MUSIC INSTA-BABE: Nicole Scherzinger
Nicole Scherzinger is a singer, songwriter, actress and dancer who first gained notoriety as the front-woman of The Pussycat Dolls (a burlesque inspired recording group) before branching out as a solo artist. Part Filipino, Hawaiian and Russian, she seems to have procured the best of each gene pool. Follow her on instagram: @nicolescherzy.
KILLER COVER: Sam Smith covers Whitney Houston
I acknowledge that Sam Smith has a great voice, but I haven’t been all too impressed with his latest singles. They’re growing on me, but I think the switch still needs to be turned on before I purchase his album (full disclosure, I haven’t heard the entire album) … but when I found his cover of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know”, I was floored. I actually went to iTunes to see if that recording was available on his album. It wasn’t. Let’s just say I would have purchased the album just for that cover.
Bonus Whitney
Since we’re talking Whitney, you should check out the a cappella track from her recording. It’s pretty awesome too.
Think You Know All About Michael Jackson’s Videos?
Rolling Stone Magazine posted a cool video “compilation” of some of Michael Jackson’s best videos. With each of the videos comes a little tidbit that you probably didn’t know about. If you have time to go through 20 of his videos, this read is highly suggested
The Making of OK Go’s “The Writing’s On The Wall”
Since I blogged about their latest video last week, I figured I post this week a “behind-the-scenes: from the trenches” video that they shot simultaneously of them making the video. It’s basically all real time, and really cool.
MUSIC NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
I’m not a fan, and really never have been, of Electronic Dance Music. But the youth these days can’t seem to get enough of it. Well … some have paid the ultimate cost recently when two died after attending the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and dozen of fans were hospitalized during an Avicii show. Personally, I just don’t see the true musicianship in EDM “performances” … if you’re willing to call it a performance. I hoping that it’s just a fad. Something new has got to come along, right? Man, I hope so.
L.A. Weekly (one of my favorite local publications) wrote a great editorial about “How Bob Marley Was Sold to the Suburbs”. It’s a terrific read. If you have the time, and you love Bob, you should read the article.
YouTube is making it hard for independent labels today. Some great artist’s videos (like Adele, Vampire Weekend, etc) may no longer be available to view on their traditional platform. For an in depth analysis of why independent label are unhappy with Youtube’s contractual offerings, you should click here and read this article. It’s not the easiest read, but it will give you perspective.
Rumors are afoot about D’Angelo’s new album FINALLY coming out in 2014. Please, please, please, please, please let this be true.
TMZ reports that Chris Miles, a 15 year old rapper, just signed a million dollar record deal. Apparently, his appearance on “America’s Got Talent” got his videos going viral. Sure, he needs to sell/write records to make that milli, but he did get a $182,500 advance. Is he worth it? Check out the video below and let me know what you thinking he poll.
#DKLPHOTOS 