The New Now

  • Hey! Whataya get when you cross a pop hit by the Fresh Prince's 10-year-old daughter with an indie-noise supergroup (featuring members of the Mae Shi, XBXRX, Robotanists, Robin Williams On Fire, and Signals) and some not-for-the-weak-stomached, Andrew WK-esque bloody special FX? Why, you get "Whip My Hair (Drowned In Blood)," of course.

    The original is the massively popular "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith, of course, and the supergroup in question covering the song is L.A.'s own Skull Tape, who are led by the Mae Shi's Brad Breeck and cite (the rather un-Willowy) Sparks, Iron Maiden, Wipers, and YMO as musical influences. Their debut, Invisible Hand And The Descent Of Man, is out April 12, and indie-rock fans will surely be whipping their hair, or maybe their skulls, when that fine day arrives.

    We'd suggest Skull Tape challenge Willow to a rap battle to see who whips it best...but honestly, we'd fear for that poor girl's life. Skull Tape are not for kids.

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  • When Master P's daughter, Cymphonique, told him that shewanted to follow in his footsteps and become a recording artist, he said hewould help her under one condition: She had to agree to make education a toppriority.

    "He said, 'OK, if you can make all straight A's in yourgrades, I'll get behind you,'" Cymphonique, 14, said, when she stopped by theYahoo! Music offices for a video interview. She took her dad up on his offerand even upped the ante, skipping a grade in math.

     

     

    After years of studying ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hopdance, Cymponique has signed a recording deal with Columbia Records/No Limit Forever, and landedher own Nickelodeon TV show, "How To Rock Braces And Glasses." Her forthcomingalbum and dramedy are slated to debut in 2011.

    In her new song "Daddy, I'm A Rockstar," the exceptionallytalented singer and songwriter expresses her love for music: "Daddy, I'm arockstar, daddy, I'm a rockstar, I don't need diamonds, I just want a guitar."

    The artist, who has already

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  • "Runner runner," definition: a poker term that, loosely defined, means "coming out of nowhere and pulling off a winning hand at the last possible moment." With a name like that, there's heavy expectation for a sudden musical miracle, but Runner Runner didn't just come out of nowhere. Its members put in their respective time touring as part of other skate-punk and pop-punk bands from all over the country before starting their own band. In fact their old bands toured together, but when things slowed down they found a new force with each other, like a five fingers in a fist of punk-infused fury.

    With smiles as easy as their pants are tight, Southern California-based Runner Runner was born in the punk and surf scenes in Huntington Beach. Frontman Ryan Ogren, guitarists Nick Bailey and Peter Munters, bassist Jon Berry, and drummer James Ulrich (no relation to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich) bonded over touring life, punk rock, and their favorite '80s songs. These boys traded in the spikes

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  • The Horrors' metamorphosis from obnoxious noisemongers to moody, Mercury Prize-nominated melodists on their second album, Primary Colours, is one of the great transformations in rock 'n' roll history. But the British psych-goth band's frontman, Faris Badwan, clearly isn't content with staying in one place for long. So he's undergone yet another drastic musical makeover, forming a drony new duo with Canadian opera soprano/classical multi-instrumentalist Rachel Zeffira--a career move that makes his other band's switchup seem positively uneventful.

    The mystery-shrouded and experimental pair, billing themselves as Cat's Eyes, are set to release their Spectorian self-titled debut disc (recorded at Peter Gabriel's RealWord Studios in Bath, England) this May. However, they gave their first (super-secret) performance last month at, of all places, the Vatican. No, not some hip new London indie club CALLED "The Vatican." The actual home turf of the Pope.

    Trust me, I NEVER thought I'd see Faris

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  • The Osmonds--yes, Donny's brotherly band--bizarrely once gave space-rock a go back in the psychedelic '70s, with their ambitiously proggy concept LP Crazy Horses. And while the bubblegum brothers were unable to get past their squeaky-clean stigma and find acceptance among rock radio programmers at the time, the cult classic has since been embraced by a new generation of hipsters and rocksters. Esteemed metal critic Chuck Eddy even listed the album at number 66 in his book Stairway To Hell: The 500 Best Heavy Metal Albums In The Universe. (Read an interview in which Donny discusses the Crazy Horses mystique HERE.)

    The latest cool kids to Horse around are fuzzed-out Oakland voodoo rockers Lumerians, who according to their cryptic press release traffic in "droning dance music for the soul you forgot you had--the noise of the billions of switches in your brain shutting off and on in perfect harmony," and who will release their debut full-length, Transmalinnia, on Knitting Factory Records

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  • The Wombats Fly Again!

    By | The New Now – Mon, Jan 10, 2011 2:57 PM EST

    The wackiest and most lovable Liverpudlians to transport quirky powerpop across the Mersey since John, Paul, George, and Ringo first headed to Hamburg, the Wombats charmed all of Britain and beyond when they first reared their messily moptopped heads back in 2006. Despite starting off as some sort of madcap joke band when they first formed at Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (at their infamously shambolic early gigs, they wore jesters' hats, did between-song stand-up and recited random Facts Of The Day, and basically "tried to make people uncomfortable"), they soon realized they could craft some seriously stellar indie pop. Songs like the surprisingly upbeat "Let's Dance To Joy Division," Jude Law-namechecking "Kill The Director," and broodingly post-punky "Moving To New York" were some of the best and brightest U.K. singles of the year, retaining all of the 'Bats batty British humor and pairing it with superb songwriting.

    It's been way too long since the

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  • Shrouded in mystery fitting for France's most famous robots, a collection of tracks was quietly released on YouTube early last fall by a group called the Third Twin. With terribly bro-y, heavily Photoshop-filtered images of identical twins, the tracks were initially credited to none other than Daft Punk, but ownership was quickly swapped out after uploading. This switcheroo sparked rumors debating if the Third Twin really was Daft Punk, or a pair of impressive newcomers looking for some buzz.

    The Third Twin's album Homemade--whose title called to mind Daft's debut album, Homework--was uncannily similar to Daft Punk's signature fusion of French house, synthpop, and techno that defined the Discovery era. The songs also sounded like preliminary versions, thus supporting the reigning theory that they were actually TRON: Legacy reject tracks that were never given final mixing. Speculation surrounding the Third Twin's true origin was mostly lost in the hurricane of press for Daft's

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  • Snarky, jaded types may grumble that no real quality new music came out in 2010, but those cynics are just wrong. 2010 was actually the killer kickoff to a sonically rich new decade, with a slew of cool upstart indie acts and a few promising pop newbies as well.

    And so, to silence all doubters, here are the year's alphabetically assembled brightest breakouts...

    Best Coast - Bethany Cosentino was hands-down the coolest indie chick of 2010, and her album Crazy For You--with its Spectorian girl-group harmonies, crushed-out lyrics, and odes to Cali sunshine--seemed like something one of the Beach Boys' granddaughters might record. This California girl subsequently landed on many critics' best-of lists, and indie boys from coast to coast dreamed that she was crooning her sunny unrequited-love anthem "Boyfriend" just for them. Sadly for those guys, Bethany was already one-half of 2010's indie it-couple, with Wavves leader Nathan Williams.

    Broken Bells - The pairing of James Mercer,

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  • There was some loud roaring going in the Y! Music studio a few weeks ago--but it was good roaring, because it was being produced by Bring Me The Horizon, and they roar with the best of them.

    The Sheffield, England-based band is riding a wave of momentum that peaked most noticeably Stateside with the release of their latest album, There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret--which entered the American charts at No. 17 and continues to grow their audience here appreciably.

    The quintet, who formed in 2004 and took their name from--well, watch the interview below and you'll see--consists of Oliver Sykes (lead vocals), Lee Malia (guitar), Matt Kean (bass), Matt Nicholls (drums) and newest member Jona Weinhofen (guitar). The band has been variously described as hardcore, deathcore, metalcore, but labels can sometimes be deceptive--as there is a sophistication to be heard among most of the songs on There Is A Hell that cannot be confined to any one

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  • http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/music_prod/thenewnow-350378909-1291072808.jpg

    Eight-year-old gospel singer Rhema Marvanne has accumulatedmillions of online video streams for her covers of "Amazing Grace" and the"The Star-Spangled Banner." She's become a media favorite, appearing on "The Maury Povich Show," recently performing the national anthem at the Dallas Cowboys stadium, and taping an interview to airon "20/20" in December.

    The petite powerhouse is now racking up video plays for herrenditions of holiday songs. Marvanne's take on Mariah Carey's "All I Want ForChristmas Is You" has received nearly a half a million plays, while herperformance of Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" has won close to 150,000 clicks. Thesongs appear on Marvanne's "All Seasons" album.

    [Video: 10-year-old opera phenom performs on 'America's Got Talent'] 

    Marvanne's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" follows Carey'svocal lead, and the Carrollton, Texas native impressively takes on the "We BelongTogether" diva's sophisticated runs. In the video, the talented starlet dedicates the song

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News for You

  • Mom: RI theater threw out disabled girl over noise

    NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — A woman says she and her 5-year-old developmentally disabled daughter were thrown out of a theater during a "Beauty and the Beast" performance because the girl was making giggling and humming noises she makes when she's happy.

  • Cher credits luck for her lengthy career

    UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — Cher is no stranger to tabloid fodder.

  • Jenner: Kim Kardashian 'thrilled for the new baby'

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kris Jenner says her daughter Kim Kardashian is thrilled to have a new baby girl.

  • 'The Voice' Winner: Who Did the Experts Choose?

    By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - NBC's "The Voice" will crown another winner on Tuesday night's finale. Season 4's three finalists - Daniellle Bradbury, Michelle Shamuel and The Swon Brothers - battled it out for the title on Monday's performance finale episode. Before the performances, coaches Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Shakira and Usher performed The Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends." The Top 16 then got together for the second group performance of the night on Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros' "Home. ...

  • Miss Utah latest beauty queen to botch answer

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — Miss Utah Marissa Powell is the latest beauty queen to trip on national television, not over her gown, but during the interview segment.

  • Brad Pitt tries to build a better blockbuster

    NEW YORK (AP) — Brad Pitt wanted to build a better blockbuster.

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