Pop Music Club

Madonna Wins Golden Globe for Best Song

There was some controversy after the Golden Globes concerning Madonna’s recent win for best original song for the ballet, “Masterpiece.” She co-wrote the song the sang it for her film, W.E.” However, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish had something to say about her win and felt that she shouldn’t have won the award. Furnish took to the social networking site Facebook and said that, “Madonna winning Best Original Song truly shows how these awards have nothing to do with merit, Her acceptance speech was embarrassing in its narcissism. And her criticism of Gaga shows how desperate she really is."

Madonna had beaten out Elton John’s song, “Hello Hello” from the Gnomeo and Juliet soundtrack and Mary J. Blige’s “The Living Proof” song from the movie, “The Help.” Read more about Madonna Wins Golden Globe for Best Song

Lana Del Ray Confirms My Suspicions That She Is An Android

Or perhaps just a genetically engineered alien scout

If you've been active in the Twitterverse within the past 72 hours, you've probably picked up on the news that Saturday's SNL music performances were not very good. Whether you'd heard of Lana Del Rey prior to her NBC-bomb or not, you can probably agree that the clips of her trying to sing in front of a live audience on national television are awkward at best and career-endingly embarrassing at worst.

'90s Dude Bands

Where are they now?

Last week, I started a post about alternative dude rock from the ‘90s that aren’t really popular anymore. My three examples didn’t even begin to cover the scope of these were-cool bands. Here’s the continuation.

Alternative dude rock was the thing in the ‘90s. The guys in these bands usually had long, stringy hair and wore flannel in-and-outside Seattle, singing songs about lost love or broken hearts or drugs. The songs were usually epic ballads, sung with lyrical simplicity on top of angst-ridden chords. We loved it.

But where did these bands go? Even the biggest of them seemed to fall to the wayside as soon as 2000 came around. And that’s saying nothing about the imitators and the one-hit wonders. Let’s take a look at some of the ‘90s biggest bands, their hits and what happened to them in the fateful ‘00s. Read more about '90s Dude Bands

The Next Season of American Idol

Potential hits and misses.

American Idol is getting pretty elderly rounding its season 11 bend. Grandpa’s still doing pretty well for himself, though, and has held the top spot Nielsen ratings for seven seasons, claiming the record over shows that were actually good. Ratings aside, any television show worth its salt knows that tried-and-true isn’t going to cut it—they need to have a few tricks up their sleeves. So here’s what’s cooking fresh on American Idol this season: Read more about The Next Season of American Idol

The Biggest Cross-Over Pop Hits of 2011

And the surprising other arenas where they can be found.

I don’t listen to very much popular music. I don’t understand when young people talk to me about various wrappers with foodstuff names or singers with blue hair and British accents. I feel old.

But this year, there were some mega-huge hits even I heard. Usually, these songs were included in some other context besides Billboard Top 40 charts, and sometimes these contexts were pretty unusual.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest cross-over hits of 2011: Read more about The Biggest Cross-Over Pop Hits of 2011

Foster The People - "Pumped Up Kicks" (The Knocks Remix)

Foster The People get the dance treatment with this awesome remix from New York boys The Knocks. It's almost disgustingly catchy. If you couldn't get the original out of your head when it made the radio circuit, good luck ridding yourself of this version.

Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks (The Knocks Remix) by The Knocks

M83: Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

M83 can be a difficult band to get into if you're unfamiliar with them. Their career arc has been a strange one and has been frustrating for a number of their fans. The band's early albums are slow, atmospheric electronica that owes a great debt to the likes of Brian Eno and John Cage. At best these first few records are beautiful and entrancing, at worst too noodly and obtuse. Then one of M83's founding members left the band and took that ambient style with him, at least for the most part. The transitional period included two very different albums: 2005's intense, more rock-centered Before The Dawn Heals Us and the instrumental, much more laid-back Digital Shades Vol. 1 in 2007. It wasn't until 2008's Saturdays = Youth that M83 found a wide audience and a pop-friendly sound. This intimidating discography in mind, the band's new double album Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is a great point of entry. It's basically a tour through M83's many different styles and a gorgeous one at that.

Reflections on R.E.M.

Yesterday, one of longest-lived, most influential bands in rock called it quits. R.E.M., one of the defining acts of the Alternative movement in the 80's and 90's, announced an amicable break-up after more than 30 years in the business. They leave behind 15 full-length studio albums, scads of singles, collections and other rarities, a library of memorable music videos and a legacy the likes of which few bands ever achieve.

Sleepy Eyes of Death Finally Getting Some Rest

One of Seattle's most interesting bands of the past decade, The Sleepy Eyes of Death, called it quits on Friday, August 26th. They played their farewell show, ending on an especially amicable note, at Neumos in Capitol Hill along with Flexions and Crypts. The Sleepy Eyes rocked a packed house with as much energy, innovation and love for their fans as they've had since they first hit the scene six years ago.