• Sam Smith, Mary J. Blige Collaborator Jimmy Napes Releases Howard Lawrence, Half Of Disclosure, Assisted 'Give It Up' [LISTEN]

    British, Grammy Award winning songwriter Jimmy Napes is stepping out from behind others and looking to showcase his own talent as the frontman. Napes has written tracks for Sam Smith, Mary J Blige, Clean Bandit, Jessie Ware, Disclosure and others and has been heralded as one of the driving forces behind the new UK explosion into the United States pop market. Napes is stepping out from the shadows into the limelight with a new single "Give It Up" that features production from Howard Lawrence, one half of Disclosure.
  • VNYL Will Deliver Three LPs to Subscribers Monthly, Netflix-Style, with Option to Buy

    Digital music be damned, vinyl is on a comeback. Plenty of reports published previously in Music Times have shed light on the continuing growth of the vinyl format among music listeners and a new company is looking to take advantage of it, by sending subscribers several records a month in the mail, much like how Netflix previously specialized in sending DVD's through the mail. The company, VNYL, just reached its Kickstarter goal this week.
  • Nashville Has Lost More Than 80 Percent of Its Professional Songwriters since 2000, According to NSAI

    Nashville has long nurtured its status as the "Music City," thanks to a wide range of venues and a steady stream of performers exported from the city. When acts such as Jack White, the Black Keys and Carrie Underwood move to the city to be part of the scene, it builds up up the "Music City" vibes even more. But a great feature from The Tennessean demonstrates that things aren't so rosy outside of the ht records. The city has lost more than 80 percent of its professional songwriters during the last 14 years.
  • 'American Idol' Season 14 Recap & Review: 5 More Impressive Auditions from Nashville and Kansas City

    After American Idol's Season 14 opener, judges Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban both shared some words with the press about the talent they've seen so far. The New Orleans jazz artist promised viewers that the judges have seen plenty of contestants capable of attaining superstar status. Urban stressed the importance of finding someone with great singing abilities, studio presence and live skills.
  • deadmau5 Recording 20-Minute Live Edit of 'Strobe' for Guvernment Closing Party

    Deadmau5 has some great new for his Canadian fans. He is recording a 20-minute long live edit of his classic track, "Strobe," for the final ever concert at legendary Toronto venue, Guvernment. The 2009 classic from his album, 'For Lack Of A Better Name,' remains one of the signature songs of deadmau5's storied discography and helped catapult him to the stardom he enjoys today, while also helping to define an era.
  • Above & Beyond Share 'All Over The World' Music Video Featuring Alex Vargas From 'We Are All We Need' [WATCH]

    We are under two weeks away until the way from the release of Above & Beyond's third studio album, 'We Are All We Need.' With that in mind, the UK based trance super-trio has shared the music video for their single, "All Over The World" featuring vocalist Alex Vargas, who appears multiple times on the album. The video continues their streak of riffing off of different classic movies, this time adapting the plot of "Catch Me If You Can" to work with the emotional lyrics from Alex Vargas. The video relives a flashback of a man flying all over the world, impersonating various professions in an attempt to try and find his father.
  • Screaming Females Brush Their Teeth In "Criminal Image" Music Video [WATCH]

    New Jersey punk trio Screaming Females have shared a new track titled "Criminal Image," off of their upcoming album 'Rose Mountain,' which you can check out here. The track is filled with some excellent riffage from guitarist Marissa Paternoster (who's truly one of America's best living guitarists), but has an uncharacteristic yet still excellent piano break in the middle. The song is accompanied with a video of the band brushing their teeth, because punk rock.
  • System of a Down May Be Working on a New Album: Serj Tankian Talks Solo Work and Upcoming Tour

    It has been 10 years since System of a Down dropped "Mezmerize" and "Hypnotize." The group went on hiatus in 2006, but it got back together five years later, much to the delight of fans. Now, in an interview with "Rolling Stone," frontman Serj Tankian is giving System followers some hope of a new album.The group is gearing up for their international Wake Up the Souls tour. Once that wraps in April, the boys might be hitting the studio."There has been talk, and we are going to play this tour, come back and we're going to see where we are. If we have songs that work for System, if I have them and [guitarist] Daron [Malakian] has them. The openness is there to work together, but we haven't made any particular plans that we can announce," Tankian said.As per usual, the band is hitting the road to spread awareness of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide that occurred in 1915. Every member of the group comes from survivors of the genocide, and they will play Armenia for the first time to close out April. It turns out Tankian's solo efforts also involve the massacre.
  • SXSW 'K-Pop Night Out' Showcase Returns for Third Year

    Legendary Austin music festival South By Southwest will be hosting its third annual "K-Pop Night Out" showcase Thursday, March 19, at the Elysium Nightclub. Presented by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the showcase features performances by a selection of South Korean pop artists, with this year's bill including Hitchhiker, Epik High (pictured above), Crayon Pop, The Barbarettes, Asian Chairshot, EE and Eastern Sidekick.Though the term "K-pop" may suggest that all these artists fall under the same genre of music, "K-Pop Night Out" boasts quite a diverse selection. SXSW describes Epik High as the group responsible for "bringing hip-hop to the mainstream in Korea," while Eastern Sidekick is described as "an edgier Korean version of The Strokes." Other styles of music that are being represented at the showcase include girl group pop (Crayon Pop, The Barbarettes), alternative rock (Asian Chairshot) and bizarre dance music (EE, Hitchhiker).
  • 'Whiplash' May Lose Oscar Nomination for Best Original Screenplay Due to a Technicality

    "Whiplash" is one of 2014's best movies, and it is predicted to take home a few awards at the Oscars. J.K. Simmons gave the performance of his career in the jazz drumming drama and Miles Teller solidified himself as a true Hollywood heavyweight — and a damn fine percussionist. Unfortunately, the movie, directed by Damien Chazelle, may be excluded from the Best Writing category due to a technicality.As "Deadline" notes, "Whiplash" has not been included in the Best Original Screenplay category on initial voting lists. This is due to the fact that in order to get the movie financed, producers shot a brief scene from the script in order to entice funding. That short went on to win an award at the 2012 Sundance competition. The Academy deems it an adaptation of that short, and therefore ineligible to be included in the originals category.It is an unfortunate spot to be in, especially considering the fact that some voters think it could take home the statue for the category.