MTV News |
- Paramore Are Set To Become The Kings And Queen Of The South
- Lil Wayne Shoots Hoops With New Orleans Hornets Star Chris Paul
- Katy Perry Wants To Make New Music Her Fans Can 'Roller-Skate To'
- 2009 Hottest MCs In The Game Starts Monday
- Stephanie Pratt Admits She's Been A 'Serial Dater' On 'The Hills'
- Ellen DeGeneres Defends Her New 'American Idol' Gig
- Miley Cyrus To Preview 'Party In The U.S.A.' Clip On 'Dancing With The Stars'
- 'American Idol' Guest Judge Katy Perry Didn't 'Make Anybody Cry'
- Muse Discuss <i>The Resistance,</i> Their 'Very Personal' New Album
| Paramore Are Set To Become The Kings And Queen Of The South Posted: 23 Sep 2009 03:51 AM PDT They don't act like rock stars in Franklin, Tennessee, but they do on Brand New Eyes, in Bigger Than the Sound.
Hayley Williams owns a car, though she prefers to ride her bike. If you live in Franklin, Tennessee, you probably know this by now, because she pilots the thing — a beige, kid-size rattletrap with a basket on the front — all around her hometown, chatting up the locals and stopping in at places like Puckett's Grocery and the Ivey Cake bakery. She paid $60 for it at a nearby thrift store. It's probably worth $30. Williams also owns a house in town, and though it's certainly worth more than her bike, it's not much flashier: a modest stone number with a detached garage and big, thick double-glazed windows. It looks more like your craft-obsessed aunt's summer retreat than the palace of rock's reigning flame-haired siren. Though she's rarely in it, Williams is planning on doing the house up for Halloween, with grand schemes of turning the front yard into a replica of the titular burial ground in Stephen King's "Pet Sematary." She hopes to accomplish this, she tells me, with some plastic tombstones she's got stored in the trunk of her car, and a bag of cotton balls. Needless to say, there is still much work to be done.
Those are just some of the things I learned after spending the afternoon with Williams (and her Paramore mates) in their hometown of Franklin, a sleepy-yet-spirited hamlet outside of Nashville, and I'm not telling them to you for any particular reason other than to illustrate a rather salient point: Paramore are not rock stars. They just happen to play them on their new album, the jaw-droppingly good, to-the-brink-and-back Brand New Eyes (due Tuesday), a brave and bold effort which just might end up being the best big rock record released this year. And, no, I'm not quite sure how this happened, either. Because, truth be told, I didn't think Paramore had it in them. They are shockingly young — at 24, bassist Jeremy Davis is the group's elder statesman — exceedingly normal, and decidedly small-town. There is nothing in their file to suggest they're capable of things they pull off on Eyes, whether it be the snarling guitars on album-opener "Careful" and first single "Ignorance," the beautiful restraint of quieter tunes like "The Only Exception" and (especially) "Misguided Ghosts," or Williams' soul-scything holler on closing track "All I Wanted" (which is about as close to a vocal exorcism as you're likely to hear on any album, let alone one released by Fueled by Ramen). They have evolved from a cloying pop-punk outfit into a solid, bombastic, honest-to-goodness rock band, a transformation which is, a) more difficult to pull off than you'd imagine, and b) pretty darn admirable. In short, they've grown up, or, as Williams puts it, "matured, not ma-toored." Back home in Franklin, Paramore are still very much kids. Williams' bike is rickety, her car is covered in band stickers, and most of her clothes are bought at Goodwill (or most of her stage clothes, at least). Brothers Josh and Zac Farro tool around town on scooters, blaring their horns and waving at confused locals. New guitarist Taylor York carries with him a vibe of indie cool but is very much a 19-year-old, prone to prolonged bits of silence and/or incredibly goofy outbursts. Davis talks with eyes wide about racing ATVs around muddy Tennessee trails and blowing stuff up with his friends. (He also has perhaps the most embarrassing AOL e-mail address I've ever seen.) These are not the ingredients with which great rock bands are made. There's no swagger, no style, no threat of imminent danger. There's just openness — of the plain-faced, no-frills, Southern variety. And openness is a big part of what makes Brand News Eyes so great. Williams despises deception and phoniness in all their forms (in his review of the album, Spin's Mikael Wood astutely compares her to Holden Caufield, the no-B.S. protagonist of "The Catcher in the Rye"), and so she spends large chunks of the album railing against them. But she's also unashamed — or, more precisely, unafraid — to take stands on causes most cynics would snicker at: love ("The Only Exception"), brotherhood ("Looking Up") and self-empowerment ("Feeling Sorry"), to name just a few. She does these things not because she has to, but because she wants to. She is part Rosie the Riveter, part Joan of Arc, with a little bit of Marge Simpson's moral indignation thrown in for good measure. And like it or not, she's not trying to hide it, not for a second. Musically, Brand New Eyes makes no apologies, either. The songs don't hide the fact that they were born out of internal strife. In fact, this fact is only emphasized by the sequencing, which starts off angry and punchy (the tunes written during the band's low period in Franklin), and closes quietly, even happily (the tunes written after the band had hashed out their differences in a make-or-break bitch session aided by producer Rob Cavallo). There's very little of the old, DayGlo Paramore on display here. That's been replaced instead with increasingly complex songwriting and a newfound interest in exploring the quieter side of things. They've grown up, and they're not even going to try to hide it. That's why no other band could've made Brand New Eyes. It's an inherently Southern record, and not in the Skynyrd way. Rather, there is an antebellum charm and grace to it, a refined (and admirable) restraint, even when the guitars are interlocking to the heavens, the backbeat is walloping against the walls, and Williams is singing for the rafters. There's small-town sentiment and big-town ambitions. I'm not sure any of this was intentional, though I'm willing to bet it wasn't. Paramore don't do intentional; they just do rational, which makes them pretty lousy rock stars, but a pretty great rock band. Questions? Concerns? E-mail me at BTTS@MTVStaff.com. Related Artists |
| Lil Wayne Shoots Hoops With New Orleans Hornets Star Chris Paul Posted: 23 Sep 2009 04:09 AM PDT 'It surprised me,' Paul says of Wayne's basketball skills, in Mixtape Daily.
Celebrity Favorites NBA super point guard Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets obviously loves basketball, but he's also passionate about another sport: bowling. He told us this week that fellow N.O. star Lil Wayne can't see him on the lanes.
"Man, he doesn't have the best of me in bowling," Paul said. "Actually, I got my celebrity [bowling] thing coming up [soon]. I talked to Wayne ... to try and get him to come down." CP says that he and Weezy competed at hoops recently and, surprisingly, the Cash Money/ Young Money Millionaire hung with him. "I went to one of Wayne's shows ... it might have been after my rookie year," Paul explained. "There was a basketball goal set up outside. He came, we shot the best out of 10. It surprised me — we shot the best out of 10, he made seven. But I came through and made eight." Paul was in New York City this week promoting his first book for children, "Long Shot: Never Too Small to Dream Big." "It's actually been a long time coming — a couple of years," he said. "I've been so anxious for the book to come out, to see it written and work with the illustrators, it's a great feeling. Something I'm excited to share with people in the country. ... I just wanna focus on the kids. That's definitely my passion. I wanna touch kids at an early age so they can know to not limit themselves to certain things." For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Katy Perry Wants To Make New Music Her Fans Can 'Roller-Skate To' Posted: 23 Sep 2009 03:51 AM PDT Singer cites '90s influences like Ace of Base and the Cardigans for upcoming One of the Boys follow-up.
Katy Perry certainly has been riding the success of her album One of the Boys. The LP has spawned several catchy singles like "I Kissed a Girl" and "Waking up in Vegas" and several VMA nominations, as well as worldwide acclaim for the singer, but now her fans are itching to get their hands on new music from the raven-hair pop star. Well, good news for those fans: Perry is ready to get back to work. She's even feeling inspired by some of her newest collaborators for her next project, likening her new vibe to that of fellow VMA-nominated band 3OH!3.
"I know that after being on the road for about a year and half, what I'm missing is a little bit of that 'Starstrukk' flavor," she told MTV News on the video set for "Starstrukk," her new song with 3OH!3. Her new music will eventually have "that beat, that movement a little bit," Perry teased. She even named some Scandinavian inspirations that she's hoping to evoke for her follow-up — and no, we don't mean ABBA. "I'm kind of thinking I want to do my record like a mesh between 'Lovefool' by the Cardigans and ['The Sign'] by Ace of Base," she explained. "I want to make songs that people want to hold hands and roller-skate to." When we previously spoke to Perry about her Boys follow-up, she made it clear that she's going in a new direction. "I definitely want to make a follow-up pop, fun record. I'm not looking to alienate my fans, but I can't be that grown-up Shirley Temple girl wearing the stupid strawberry in her hair all the time ... because I'd kill myself or someone else would for me," Perry laughed. "So I'm really excited to always be evolving, and changing; with my look, with my music, it keeps me entertained as well." Related Photos Related Artists |
| 2009 Hottest MCs In The Game Starts Monday Posted: 22 Sep 2009 07:07 AM PDT First half of list unveiled next week; top five announced October 4 during 'P. Diddy's Starmaker.'
Love it, hate it, respect it. On Monday we'll begin revealing MTV News' official 2009 Hottest MCs in the Game list right here. For the rest of the week, we'll unveil numbers nine through six, and the top five MC spots will be revealed October 4 during "P. Diddy's Starmaker" on MTV, as well as online at MTVNews.com. It's been more than a month since we announced our annual great debate. Due to overwhelming response by readers — close to 1.2 million votes were cast in our fan poll — we decided to factor in their opinions. The MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust will even hear from real hip-hop fans during their roundtable discussion.
Here's how the voting works. Each Brain Trust member comes up with their own list of who they feel are the top 10 MCs in the game right now. This year the collective results of the fan voting will act as an extra member of the Brain Trust, and that list will be tallied along with the others. Each artist gets 10 points each time they are ranked #1 on a given list, nine points for #2, eight points for third position and so forth. From that extensive tally comes the master list of the top 10 MCs who the Brain Trust will discuss at the roundtable. Now, every MC has a certain position initially, but that can change. Once the debating begins, an artist can move up or down in the rankings — or even off the list altogether. A new artist can also make it onto the list. And in case you don't remember the criteria, here it is: The list is meant to reflect what is going on right now as opposed to a career retrospective. The Brain Trust can look back as far as one year when deciding an MC's spot on the list. The Hottest MCs in the Game are also determined by an unscientific mix of the following: Lyrics — Skills will always put an MC in the conversation. It's all about how the MC's words penetrate on the mic. Can their lyrics stab hearts? Musical trends may change, but lyrical skill remains a powerful currency in hip-hop. Flow — It isn't just what you're saying, it's how you're rocking it. Does an MC connect with an audience and make them pay attention? Some just have that special delivery. Impact — Of course, MC means "move the crowd," but a truly hot MC can also move the culture. Are their records dominating radio? Are they parlaying their music career into other successful business ventures? Selling out tours? Have they put other MCs in the game? Do companies clamor for their product endorsement? Pay attention when an MC owns the moment. Buzz — You know you're hot when everybody is talking about you. From schools to clubs to street corners to barbershops and beyond, a hot MC is always a hot topic of conversation. Dropping a classic album is obviously one way to create buzz, but consistently crushing the mixtape circuit can get (and keep) people buzzing. And of course, there's the Web — key stats like Google hits, Twitter followers and YouTube views are all part of the story too. Sales — The bar on this one moves slightly every year, depending on how the music business is doing. Nevertheless, multiplatinum plaques can never be fronted on. Whether it's sales of albums, ringtones or MP3 downloads, if it makes dollars it makes sense. Moving big units counts. The Intangible — Sometimes it all comes down to that undeniable intangible. Some call it star power, some call it swag, some call it the "it" factor. You can't learn it. You can't buy it. You either have it or you don't. These are the trendsetters of hip-hop. It is important to note that an MC can conceivably be "hot" enough to make the list with any one of these qualities, but the best MCs have all of them. Related Videos Related Artists |
| Stephanie Pratt Admits She's Been A 'Serial Dater' On 'The Hills' Posted: 23 Sep 2009 03:51 AM PDT 'It's fun, 'cause I don't want a boyfriend,' Spencer's sister says of her unpredictable love life.
Some might be finding love on the new episodes of "The Hills" (we're looking at you, Kristin Cavallari and Justin Bobby), and some might be deciding if they should start a family (ahem, Heidi and Spencer).
And then there's Stephanie Pratt, who is happy to be free to date whomever she wants. But she's quick to point out that she does have her boundaries. "I have not kissed any girls on this season," she told MTV News. "I have been a serial dater. It's so fun. It is so, so fun." She admitted, however, that her dating experiences up to this point haven't been all that romantic — not that she's ready to give up just yet. "It's sad when I'm not worth an $8 salad on a first date," she explained about her current roster of beaus. "It's sad when they steal money from me on a date. It's gonna be a great show." Pratt thinks that perhaps she's had a hard time in the love department because she hasn't yet subscribed to Heidi Montag's way of thinking. Perhaps she needs to take a cue from her sister-in-law and pray a little more. "Evidently, I'm not praying enough," she joked about her romantic liaisons. "[But] it's fun, 'cause I don't want a boyfriend, so I just get to date." Are you curious to see what kind of romantic drama Stephanie will get herself into on the new episodes of "The Hills"? Tune in to MTV on Tuesday, September 29, to find out. Related Videos |
| Ellen DeGeneres Defends Her New 'American Idol' Gig Posted: 22 Sep 2009 01:56 AM PDT 'I've spent my whole life being judged,' talk-show host says of her qualifications for 'Idol.'
With months still to go until her debut on "American Idol," Ellen DeGeneres decided to hit back against folks who doubt she has what it takes to hold her own at the judges' table. On the Tuesday (September 22) airing of her syndicated talk show, the comedian delivered an opening monologue that was alternately sincere and jokey as she defended her judging chops and made clear what kind of judge she planned to be.
"Apparently, there's a lot of debate going on right now whether I'm qualified or not to be the new judge on 'American Idol,' " she said. "I'll tell you right now how I know I'm going to be a great judge: because I've spent my whole life being judged. So I know what it's like." Ellen didn't stay serious for long. "The things people are saying — I thought we've moved past this," she declared. "We have the first African-American president. We've sworn in our first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. I think 'American Idol' is ready for their first blond judge." Explaining that she refused to internalize any negative comments about her upcoming gig, the talk-show host said, "I will be kind. I will be compassionate. I will be empathetic and I will be truthful. I will be an honest judge without being mean." She also addressed the parody Paula Abdul staged Thursday night on "VH1 Divas," when the former "Idol" judge donned a blond wig and imitated Ellen's signature dance routines. After playing the clip, Ellen said, "I have nothing but love for you too, Paula. But I want my wig back. I really do. Give it back!" Ellen ended the monologue with a simple bit of advice, saying, "I try to remember what my momma said: 'If you don't have anything nice to say, just dance.' " Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. |
| Miley Cyrus To Preview 'Party In The U.S.A.' Clip On 'Dancing With The Stars' Posted: 21 Sep 2009 10:27 PM PDT Sneak peek will air during Wednesday's show, MTV News has confirmed.
Miley Cyrus gave fans their first taste of "Party in the U.S.A." over the summer at the Teen Choice Awards, and now the singer/actress will offer a sneak peek of the song's video Wednesday on "Dancing With the Stars." In a message on her Facebook page, the singer told fans, "Breaking news! A sneak peek at the world premiere of Miley's new music video for 'Party in the U.S.A.' will be airing this week during the live 3-night 'Dancing With the Stars' premiere! ... More details to come." MTV News has confirmed the details of the sneak peek, which, according to Cyrus' reps, will be an exclusive 90-second version of the video airing during the show Wednesday. The full-length video will be available online. Cyrus caused quite the uproar when she performed the song at the Teen Choice Awards in August. No word yet if the video will in any way take from that performance, which had Cyrus emerge from a trailer and dance on top of an ice-cream truck against what looked like a stripper pole. " 'Party in the U.S.A.' is an all-American song, and so I come out tonight and I'm literally in a trailer park. It's a blinged-out trailer park," she explained to MTV News about the performance before the show. "I'm like, 'This is to represent where I am from.' I'm so proud of it. All the girls trying to be Hollywood and stuff with their big glasses, me shooing them away. I love it. It's about my roots." Related Artists |
| 'American Idol' Guest Judge Katy Perry Didn't 'Make Anybody Cry' Posted: 22 Sep 2009 01:46 AM PDT 'But I did tell the truth to some kids that might have needed to hear it,' singer says.
Katy Perry tried to strike a balance between sympathetic and critical when she sat in as a guest judge for the "American Idol" auditions in Los Angeles. So, how tough was she on the contestants?
"I make 'em cry all the time," she joked to MTV News during a set visit for the video of her duet with 3OH!3, "Starstrukk." "The 'American Idol' experience was awesome. If I was offered that job as a permanent host I would ditch my career and take on that career." But Perry admits that maybe it was only fun because, well, it's not her real job. Having the gig permanently would probably turn up the heat quite a bit. "I guess the pressure gets really on when you start eliminating the number of people that are going through," she said. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, and then you've got the final two. That can be kind of tense and stressful." The experience gave the singer a newfound respect for the tough decisions Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson and newbie Ellen DeGeneres will have to make, but she said that sitting at the judges' table for a day is a lot of fun for an "Idol" fan. "It's kind of like judging a talent show," she said. " 'American Idol' was great fun. It was so easy. I didn't really make anybody cry, but I did tell the truth to some kids that might have needed to hear it." Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions. Related Artists |
| Muse Discuss <i>The Resistance,</i> Their 'Very Personal' New Album Posted: 22 Sep 2009 04:25 AM PDT 'I think it's quite a departure from what we've done in the past,' drummer Dominic Howard says.
If you've heard even one note of Muse's new album, The Resistance — or if you saw their roof-blowing performance at the VMAs — you know that the English trio are far from understated. Muse are stadium-rocking superstars in Europe. They go for the big idea with a gargantuan sound that melds the theatrical flair of Queen with the symphonic filigrees of 1970s prog rock and a healthy dose of the electronic-rock quirks of the band they're most often compared to, Radiohead.
But Muse, who are contributing a remix of The Resistance song "I Belong to You" to the soundtrack of the upcoming "Twilight" sequel "New Moon," had some new ideas for their fifth album, which they said is their most personal work to date. "I think it's quite a departure from what we've done in the past," drummer Dominic Howard said. "There's lots of different styles of music that we tried out. There's different styles of music that we feel like we've never come across before. And, well ... we've got a big symphony on there. It's a three-part symphony right at the end of the album, which is this very kind of, like, ambitious, very orchestral huge piece of music which is a pretty hard task to take on, but ended up sounding great." Howard was speaking of "Exogenesis," which is, indeed, a three-part symphony complete with an "Overture," a second act called "Cross-Pollination" and a finale called "Redemption." With swelling, dramatic strings and classical piano runs worthy of Chopin or Rachmaninoff, operatic vocals and searching lyrics about escaping the bounds of earthly gravity, the songs are indeed beyond ambitious, which is nothing new for a group of guys who have been forthright about their desire to conquer the globe with their Cinemascope sound. "I think the structure of the album has a mild, loose narrative ... which is something different to what we've done before," frontman Matthew Bellamy explained. "I wouldn't say it's a pure concept album, but it's definitely got a few themes which go throughout. Themes like revolution, uprising, wanting political change, constitutional reform ... as well as a sort-of, kind-of love story developing in the midst of all that." Bellamy said the album is a kind of musical companion to "1984," the classic George Orwell novel about a lone man's rebellion against a controlling totalitarian government. But, despite those far-reaching, worldly themes, Howard said that at its heart, The Resistance, which was produced by the band, is really a personal statement. "We did a song called 'Undisclosed Desires,' which is very kind of programmed and much more electronic-sounding than anything we've ever done before," he said. "And we produced it all by ourselves as well, so I think for that it sounded very, very personal and also gave us a chance to feel very comfortable to experiment with all these ideas and ... you know, somehow we finished it." Related Artists |
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