Blog Posts by Daniel Kreps

Is Beyoncé padding her baby bump? That's the talk of the tabloids following the singer's interview this weekend with Australia's Sunday Night, where Beyoncé's stomach appears to do a brief disappearing act. Incidentally, the controversy began just as the interviewer Ian "Molly" Meldrum's voiceover quipped, "The only thing bigger than Beyoncé right now is her beautiful baby bump." Immediately after that line, at the video's 0:59 mark, Knowles' stomach looks like it deflates as she sat down for the interview. When seated, she seems to give Meldrum a startled look that said "Did you catch that?" before reassuming her poise.

This moment instantly kicked off rumors that Beyoncé is playing up her pregnancy. No one doubts that the singer is really with child, only that she's maybe padding her gut to be bigger for the cameras. It has gotten to the point where B's publicist has responded to the controversy, telling ABC News that the rumors are "stupid, ridiculous, and false." Unless someone

It'll be Ladies' Night at this year's American Music Awards as Adele, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift all lead the pack in nominations. Adele scored the most nods with four, including nominations in Artist of the Year, Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, and Favorite Pop/Rock album for 21. The rest of the above female singers, as well as Lil Wayne and the Band Perry, earned three nominations. The AMAs will broadcast live from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on November 20th. Check out Billboard for the full list of nominees.

"Rolling in the Deep" was by far the most inescapable song of 2011, but is Adele even eligible for American Music Award nominations? Don't U.K. artists have their own music awards, like the Mercury Prize and the Brit Awards? Despite a name that sounds like it only rewards U.S. musicians, the AMAs are a global affair that honors the acts that had the biggest impact in America, regardless of where they're from. The AMAs are

Phish will ring in the New Year at a familiar venue this December 31st, as the jam band today announced a four-show run to close 2011 at New York's Madison Square Garden. The shows mark the second straight year Phish has played MSG on NYE, and the sixth time in the group's career they've sang "Auld Lang Syne" at the World's Greatest Arena when the ball dropped. Phish's previous New Year's runs at the Garden took place in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, and 2010. This will be the first time since 1998 that the group scheduled four consecutive nights, from December 28th to December 31st, at the (newly renovated!) home of the Knicks and Rangers.

A ticket lottery for fans is currently up at Phish's official site. The request period will run until October 24th, and then the leftover tickets will go to the public. Phish's New Year's Eve shows are usually epic, three-set affairs packed with fan favorite songs, offbeat covers, special guests, and other surprises. While the band is far removed from

More and more details about Rihanna's Talk That Talk continue to trickle out, and today brought the singer's latest album cover. Much like all the art found on her CDs, it's pretty much a photo of Rihanna showcasing whatever hairstyle she's sporting these days, except for one minor detail: This time around, she is sticking out her tongue. The saucy pose got The Amp thinking about what other album and single covers featured people showing off their taste buds. From Kiss to Madonna to Ozzy to Gaga, there have been a lot. Behold this brief history of album cover tongues:

Kiss - Lick It Up

Poison - Open Up and Say... Ahh!

Ozzy Osbourne - Speak of the Devil

Madonna - Hard Candy

The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks

King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

Ke$ha - "Blah Blah Blah"

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magick

Pet Shop Boys - Actually

Madonna - "What It Feels Like for a Girl"

My Bloody Valentine - Glider

Bloc Party - Intimacy

Santigold - Santogold

This Heat - Deceit

Ozzy

Last month, the Projector posted a story called "Let Us All Be Happy About How Few Nirvana Songs Show Up In Movies" that pinpointed just how Kurt Cobain's music is (appropriately) viewed as a sacred cow when it comes to Hollywood soundtracks. Only on a handful of occasions has a Nirvana tune snuck into a movie, and in most cases, the inclusion of the song wasn't that excruciating (and in the instance of Shoot 'Em Up, it was actually pretty fantastic). However, the Muppets have come to test that entire theory.

In the upcoming, Jason Segel-penned Muppets reboot, some of those funny-looking puppets will serenade movie theater audiences with a barbershop quartet rendition of the grunge anthem "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the Playlist reports. It's unclear which Muppets will take part in the Nirvana cover, but if Animal and Gonzo aren't involved, there are going to be problems. Amazingly, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has managed to avoid Hollywood's grasp ever since the cast of Moulin Rouge

There was already a carnival-like atmosphere outside the Michael Jackson manslaughter trial, as dozens of King of Pop fans, Dr. Conrad Murray supporters, tourists, and news teams have descended on the Los Angeles courthouse on a daily basis. Even a group of unemployed contractors with signs pleading for work have set up shop by the courthouse's front steps, hoping that any of the army of news cameras will broadcast their plight to television audiences. As if the scene couldn't be any more chaotic, welcome the Los Angeles faction of the Occupy Wall Street protestors to the mix.

Just a block away from the district court where Jackson's personal physician is on trial, hundreds of protestors have camped out at Los Angeles' City Hall Park. The Occupy Wall Street movement entered the park on October 1st, but as support for the protests have surged nationwide, the Los Angeles OWS community has swelled to the point that news agencies covering the Jackson trial can't even ignore what's going

Ryan Adams' new album Ashes & Fire, the prolific singer-songwriter's first album without his backup band the Cardinals since 2003, hits stores today. To mark the occasion, Adams is everywhere promoting Ashes' somberly sweet first single "Lucky Now." Check out the video for the track, an ode to Cardinals bassist Chris Feinstein (he passed away in December 2009), and stick around below for the moving acoustic version Adams performed last night on Conan.

As for the album itself, Ashes & Fire doesn't possess Adams' strongest set of songs, but in terms of production, it's his most refined album since 2001's Gold. (That's likely because Adams teamed with illustrious producer Glyn Johns. He's also the father of Ethan Johns, who produced Ryan's debut Heartbreaker.) Adams' output (13 studio albums since 2000) has given him a reputation of a "human jukebox." He's regarded as a musical prodigy who pumps out undercooked tracks that could've been great songs had they been given a little more

Q Magazine's U2 tribute album AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered already boasted an impressive lineup thanks to Jack White, Patti Smith, and Depeche Mode. Now, add Nine Inch Nails, the Killers, and Garbage to the mix. The complete tracklist for the Achtung Baby covers disc, which will be included as a free CD inside Q's U2-centric issue, has been revealed, as has our taste of the album, White's rendition of the closing track "Love Is Blindness." The song seemed like an odd pick for the White Stripes singer, but he makes the track his own with a powerful, distortion-soaked version that sounds like what could have been if Nick Cave fronted U2:

White's buddy the Edge -- they starred in the guitar doc It Might Get Loud together -- would appreciate that killer guitar solo. The rest of AHK-toong has some serious potential as well, with Nine Inch Nails' cover of the industrial-inspired opener "Zoo Station" leading the charge. (Trent Reznor previously remixed "Vertigo" for U2's Artificial Horizon.)