Music Set

Everything goes in cycles. Just a few years ago, in the “Gangstas don’t dance, they boogie” era, some fans would look funny at rappers if they got up onstage or in their videos and tried any leg movement more elaborate than a two-step. Well, after a 180-degree turn, having a dance to go along with your ringtone single is almost as common as having a mic in your hand to move the crowd.

There were at least a couple of dozen dances this year that made us lose our breath and get a serious workout on the dance floor.

» Read the full Soulja Boy, Eve, Lil Mama Make Tweetie’s Top 10 Dances Of 2007 List article…

NEW YORK — Terms like “visionary” and “imaginative” are thrown around for a lot of directors nowadays, but Guillermo del Toro has earned those labels like no one else. In films like “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth,” the self-professed big kid has brought to the screen creeps and creatures you’d usually only find in your nightmares.

» Read the full ‘Hellboy II’ Director Guillermo Del Toro Promises More Monsters, ‘More Fun’ In Sequel article…

The funeral of pioneering American star Ike Turner was turned into a musical celebration of his life on Friday. Some of Ike’s most noted compositions, including Proud Mary, were played at the ceremony at Greater Bethany Community Church City of Refuge in Gardena, California by the Kings of Rhythm band. His daughter Mia Turner told the congregation, “Daddy wouldn’t want any of us crying. He would want us to throw a party." In between the music, luminaries such as Phil Spector and Little Richard paid tribute to Ike’s trailblazing musical career.
» Read the full Ike Turner Given ‘Party’ Funeral article…

Just yesterday, December 13, Pitchfork ran a story about the efforts to raise money for J.D. "Cast" King, an 81-year-old country singer and songwriter diagnosed with terminal cancer. The same day, King lost his battle with the disease and passed away at home in Old Sand Mountain, Alabama, according to King’s label, Locust Music. King started playing guitar by teaching himself at the age of 10, and in 1955, he and his band the Country Drifters recorded a few tracks at Memphis’ legendary Sun Studio.
» Read the full Country Singer J.D. "Cast" King R.I.P. article…

Hold On Now, Youngster…, the ravenously anticipated debut LP from the Welsh wunderkinds in Los Campesinos!, now has itself a release date and a tracklist. The disc can be yours in the UK February 25 on Wichita, the same day a digital release hits North America from Arts & Crafts. The latter label will get the album onto North American shelves April 1, no foolin’.
» Read the full Los Campesinos! Reveal Album Tracklist, Release Date article…

Believe it: Jessica Simpson has decamped to Nashville to begin work on her debut country album, due sometime in 2008 via Columbia Nashville.

Simpson declined to name songwriting collaborators, but tells Billboard.com she will most definitely be involved in the creative process. “Writing is a release for me,” she says. “It’s a way for me to tell my story. That’s not to say I wouldn’t record a song that I didn’t write. It’s just that it has been a while since I have opened the book.”

But why country, and why now?
» Read the full Jessica Simpson Going Country On New Album article…

The cover of eleventyseven’s second CD looks like it could be the Beastie Boys dressed up in Daft Punk’s clothes, while the goods inside run the gamut of punkish pop, robot rock and electronic pop. At face value, the amalgamation could be truly ingenious, simultaneously pleasing the skaters and clubbers, though the group’s sugar-coated sounds and watered-down lyrics lack the full-fledged punch needed to fully land on any level.
» Read the full Galactic Conquest (Flicker) article…

I've been actively listening to big band music for most of my life, beginning with my teen years (when it competed with early rock and roll for my attention) and continuing to the present. Not surprisingly, I've gained some favorites from among the many tunes I've heard again and again. A few of those are a little obscure but others were big hits for the bands.
» Read the full Retro Redux: Artie Shaw’s Funk Paves Way For Tony Pastor article…

Single tickets available, final night-by-night lineup revealed As if 16-some ace acts spread over two nights of Windy City rocking weren’t enough, Thrill Jockey has gone and spruced up its previously reported 15th anniversary bash with a little party attraction straight out of Coney Island. An exhaustive, page-by-page search of our office copy of the O.E.D. has yielded no concise term for these things, but you’ve surely seen them before.
» Read the full Thrill Jockey B-Day Bash: Become Yr Fave Album Cover! article…

Big & Rich’s upcoming and first-ever Canadian tour will likely be the genre-bending duo’s last for a while. The long-lasting effects of a car accident involving a drunk driver a few years ago will sideline the duo’s Big Kenny Alphin for at least half of 2008.

According to partner John Rich, Alphin is still feeling the effects of the accident, which resulted in a vertebrae being removed from his spinal cord during surgery. “It’s killing him,” Rich tells Billboard.com.
» Read the full Big & Rich Taking Touring Break In ‘08 article…