The country star succeeds with pop aspirations on her new album
Music
World Music: The Next 10 Artists Poised for U.S. Stardom
Nothing against Psy, but music from beyond the English-speaking world doesn’t stop at “Gangnam Style”
Viva Tony Bennett: The Singer on His New Duets Album, Taking Lady Gaga’s Call and His Dream Collaborator
The legendary crooner, whose album is released today, would love a chance to record with Sting
Dubstep—the Music Trend That Just Won’t Go Away
It’s official: Dubstep isn’t going anywhere. Even Taylor Swift has sampled the genre’s electronically warbled bass lines in her latest release, “I Knew You Were Trouble,” taking dubstep from the clubs to the heart of the Top …
Taylor Swift on Going Pop, Ignoring the Gossip and the Best (Worst) Nickname She’s Ever Had
At 22, Taylor Swift has the kind of career most artists chase for decades: six Grammys, countless chart-topping singles and more than 22 million albums sold. Here, the Nashville dweller—whose new album Red drops Oct. 22—lets …
No Money, No Problem: Independent Rapper Macklemore Soars Onto Billboard Chart
It’s time again to look at the latest action in the Billboard charts, tallying the week’s biggest singles and albums and interesting trends. On we go:
- Moves Past “Jagger.” O.K., what’s more surprising: that Psy
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Phish’s Trey Anastasio Ventures Into Indie Rock with Traveler
The jam-centric musician is cool, if not cohesive, on his new album
An Open Letter to Rihanna: Please Use More Words
Dear Rihanna,
We’re worried about you. Not because of your tumultuous romantic life, and not because the makeup artist for your latest Vogue cover shoot appears to have had a vendetta against you. No, our concerns are purely …
Which Pop Song Do You Want Played At Your Funeral?
If you pick which music you listen to every day of your life, why stop there? NME reported yesterday that fewer than a third of British funerals feature traditional hymns as a soundtrack to the event, according to Co-operative …
Death Cab for Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard on Striking Out on His Own
Benjamin Gibbard will release his highly anticipated solo debut, Former Lives, on Oct. 16th. As the frontman for Death Cab for Cutie and the Postal Service, Gibbard has earned himself a reputation for a certain melancholic …
Lady Gaga, Prince on Baz Lurhmann’s Great Gatsby Soundtrack?
If you are bummed that Baz Luhrmann’s 3-D film adaption of the F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic The Great Gatsby has been pushed back from Christmas Day to May 2013, then exciting news about its soundtrack will cheer you up. Lady …
Woody Guthrie’s Star-Studded 100th Birthday Party
This year, folk legend Woody Guthrie would have been 100 years old. So last night, a suitably impressive cast of pickers, warblers and icons gathered in Washington, D.C. to “blow out the candles,” as his daughter Nora Guthrie …
R. Kelly on His Single Ladies Tour, Bedroom Ballads and the Future of Trapped
On Oct. 13, R&B singer R. Kelly played the first stop of the fall-winter “Single Ladies Tour” in support of his latest album, Write Me Back. The best-selling artist behind hits like “Bump n’ Grind” and “Ignition (Remix)”—also …