Maximum Performance

  • As mid-February brings the Valentine season, what better way to celebrate than an in-studio performance by Seal?

    Backed by distinguished pianist/producer David Foster, the singer--who recently released a highly regarded album featuring covers of classic R&B songs called Soul--can be seen here covering "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and "A Change Is Gonna Come."

    Penned by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, "If You Don't Know Me By Now" first emerged as a Top 10 chart hit by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes in 1972. It later became a hit again for a brand new generation via the version by UK band Simply Red, who reached the Number 1 slot with it back in 1989.

    Stripped back to the basics of just voice and piano, the song--and the performers here--really shine.

     

     

     

    The next track has an even more distinguished history: Written by R&B legend Sam Cooke in 1963, and filled with deeply personal and political sentiment, "A Change Is Gonna Come" is an all-time classic that first appeared on Cooke's

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  • San Francisco Bay area quintet Thriving Ivory have been making significant noise in various areas of the country since the demo of their "Angels Of The Moon" was picked up by an area radio station early in their career and given a royal reception by local listeners.

    Signed to Wind-up Records, the band--consisting of Scott Jason (piano & keys), Clayton Stroope (vocals), Drew Cribley (guitars), Bret Cohune (bass), and Paul Niedermier (drums)--has continuned to garner favor in several West Coast states.

    Perhaps most notably, the band's been drawing raves in the Salt Lake City area, where local radio picked up on the "Angel Of The Moon" single and sales of the band's Wind-up debut have topped local charts.

    Check out several tracks here from the band's recent live performance at Salt Lake City's Murray Theater, which drew over a thousand fans for their first appearance ever in the area. Do they rock? It would appear they do!

     

     

     

     

     

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  • The Anaheim Convention Center in sunny Southern California once again played host to the annual NAMM (NationalAssociation of Music Merchants) Show that ran January 15-18th. The NAMMconvention is supposed to be the place where music gear companies show offtheir latest toys to perspective merchants, and yes, I'm sure a lot of wheelin'and dealin' was going on. But really it's more like a giant schmooze-fest.Every guitar company, drum company, software company, amp company, etc. istrying to get the most attention for their booths, and the best way to do thatis to get big-name endorsees to appear for autograph signings. That makes sensebecause let's face it, people get into the "music industry" becausethey're fans of music.

    The other big attention-getters are the showcases afterthe convention itself closes for the day: The nearby Hilton and Marriottmeeting rooms are turned into concert venues so patrons can really hear thegear in action, plus they get to see some amazing artists in tiny

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  • What can we say about Scott Weiland that hasn't already been said? Since his days in Stone Temple Pilots, he's been the subject of much media scrutiny. In the grungy '90s he was the music press's number-one punching bag, accused of being a poor man's Eddie Vedder (and those were the good reviews). Around the time of STP's excellent and adventurous third album, Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop, and Scott's lushly Bowie-esque first solo album 12 Bar Blues, that all changed. Weiland finally began to receive the critical acclaim that had long alluded him...but then the media focus quickly shifted to his personal life, as battles with his two off-and-on bands (STP and then supergroup Velvet Revolver), his wife, and his drug addiction became standard tabloid fodder.

    It's understandable, then, that Scott was somewhat guarded when he sat down for his recent Yahoo! Music interview, hiding half of his face behind a wide-brimmed fedora (albeit an extremely stylish one) and a shroud

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  • It was an historic occasion by any standard, but not one without precedent. In the last decade or so, major artists such as the Who, Brian Wilson, Arthur Lee & Love and even the Zombies have taken to performing in concert the albums that have cemented their status in the pantheon of popular music's legendary masters. Quadrophenia, Pet Sounds, Forever Changes and Odessey And Oracle have enjoyed that treatment, and on Nov. 7th and 8th--unbelievably, to many longtime fans--Astral Weeks was performed by Van Morrison at the Hollywood Bowl.

    Originally released in 1968, Astral Weeks is regarded by nearly every cultural commentator as one of the high points of popular music, Morrison's best-ever work, and indeed among the top three or four pop albums ever recorded. And in the 40 years since its release, with the exception of "Cypress Avenue," fans have had little to no chance to ever hear Morrison performing any of the material from this classic disc; indeed, aside from his earlier hits "Brown

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  • The College Music Journal is not messing around when it calls its festival a "music marathon." With last Tuesday through Saturday jam-packed with hundreds of bands, panels, labels, promoters, writers, and college radio outlets, and with as many non-CMJ showcases as there were official bookings, the decision on where to go was dizzying.

    So Yahoo! Music breaks it down for whomever opted not to dish out $500 for a festival badge, or couldn't make it to see every single "it" band in New York this year.

    CMJ's Top 5 Omnipresent Bands

    • 1) It's a tie! Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts
    • 2) The Muslims
    • 3) Women
    • 4) Chairlift
    • 5) Crystal Antlers

    Be on the lookout! These bands played a dangerous amount of showcases during the festival season (sometimes as many as five times a day!), and their hype overload and glittering press will make them explosive over the coming year.

    CMJ Anti-Hero: Todd P

    Brooklyn's DIY concert maven, promoter Todd Patrick hosted a slew of non-CMJ shows throughout the festival

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News for You

  • NYers furious over photos taken through windows

    NEW YORK (AP) — In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.

  • 'Iron Man 3' races past $1 billion dollar mark on monster foreign take

    By Todd Cunningham LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Iron Man 3" was soaring past $1 billion at the worldwide box office Thursday, in a display of world domination that would make one of Marvel's super villains proud. The box-office bounty - roughly $700 million from abroad and $300 million domestically - is a major triumph for Disney, which bet big on comic book superheroes when it bought Marvel Studios for $4 billion in 2009. And its decision to bring aboard a Chinese partner for "Iron Man 3" and focus the Disney marketing machine on the booming foreign market looks pretty good right now, too. ...

  • Denmark favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest

    MALMO, Sweden (AP) — An ethno-inspired flute and drum tune from Denmark is the bookmakers' favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, which also features a bizarre opera pop number from Romania and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

  • NYC artist's secret photos raise privacy issues

    NEW YORK (AP) — In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.

  • 'American Idol' finale draws record low ratings

    NEW YORK (AP) — Ratings for the "American Idol" finale plunged to a record low for the 12-year-old show.

  • NBC's 'The Voice' confirms Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton returning

    By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The gang's back together! NBC announced on Friday that pop diva Christina Aguilera and funk singer Cee Lo Green will be reuniting with pop star Adam Levine and country singer Blake Shelton for Season 5, as TheWrap was the first to report. The network also said that Shakira and Usher are set to return on Season 6, which will air in midseason 2014. ...

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