Source Of My Blog

http://pcmag.com
http://thehollywoodgossip.com
http://news.cnet.com

Chris Brown, "F.A.M.E"

The title of Chris Brown's latest album, "F.A.M.E.," stands for "Forgiving All My Enemies." But the R&B singer doesn't directly address his "enemies" on the highly anticipated set. Instead, he delivers an album full of emotional stories over a diverse mix of hip-hop, R&B, electro and dance beats. "No BS" is a lullaby about a casual sexcapade, while "Wet the Bed" finds Brown helping his woman reach her sexual peak over the tick-tock of a clock. The 21-year-old croons about matters of the heart on "Up to You," a piano-based song about lusting for a young lady, and "Deuces" finds him bidding a bitter goodbye to a toxic relationship. Brown also gets experimental with songs like the electro-heavy "Oh My Love" and dance track "Beautiful People." The easier-but not exactly wiser-route for Brown would've been to take jabs at those who turned their backs on him, but his tactic here seems to give listeners a solid album. And what better way to quiet naysayers than doing just that?

Jason Derulo Takes Off With 'Whatcha Say' Single

While other grade school kids were carving their names on lunchroom tables, Jason Derulo was busy writing music; the Florida native penned his first track, "Crush On You," when he was eight years old.

The singer/songwriter, who has been performing since the age of four, met his manager when he was 12 and has been putting pen to paper for the likes of Lil Wayne, Keyshia Cole and Cassie, since the age of 16. In 2006, the same year he landed his first major placement, Derulo won the grand prize on the season finale of the TV show "Showtime at the Apollo."

"I told my mom, 'Ma, I'm going to be better than Michael Jackson,'' says the 20-year-old. "When I saw him [Michael Jackson] for the first time was when I knew that's what I wanted to do. From then on, my goal in life was to express myself through song and to showcase it to the world."

Today, Derulo, who also dabbles in dancing, acting and producing (he was enrolled in a performing arts school where he studied music, classical voice, jazz, ballet, opera and theater), is signed to Warner Brothers by way of a joint venture with producer J.R. Rotem's Beluga Heights label (Sean Kingston) and is prepping the early 2010 release of his as-yet-titled debut.

His lead single, "Whatcha Say," which samples Imogen Heap's song, "Hide and Seek," debuted at No. 54 on the Hot 100 and currently sits at No. 5. The song, which he originally wrote for Kingston, is also No. 2 on Hot Digital Songs with 775,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

"Our chemistry is amazing," Derulo says about signing to Rotem, who discovered Derulo's knack for singing when he flew Derulo out to L.A. to write music. "We recorded six songs that night and even though other labels were putting their offers on the table, the music was so compelling that I didn't leave without signing a deal with J.R."

Other songs slated to make the album, which was produced entirely by Rotem and written by Derulo with the exception of one song, include "What If," "about meeting someone for the first time and wondering what the future holds;" "My Bed," co-written by Claude Kelly (Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus); "Around The World," which finds Derulo "searching around the world for the right one;" and "Riding Solo," which samples The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony."

To roll out the album, Derulo is currently on a promotional tour and will star in the MTV Films flick, "Turn the Beat Around," early next year.

"I never wanted to be a songwriter -- it just kind of fell on my lap. I love writing, but I always wanted to be the voice not just the pen," says Derulo about his newfound singing career. "I always yearned to sing my own song, and now, here I am doing just that."

Sara Evans, "Stronger"

"Stronger," Sara Evans' first studio album in six years, is proof that some things are worth waiting for. Evans co-wrote six of the 10 tunes, including the chilling ballad "What That Drink Cost Me," a song about a woman who loses her husband to alcohol. Elsewhere, "Alone" is another compelling ballad about a challenging relationship. Evans also excels on livelier fare like the upbeat anthem "Anywhere" and the cleverly written "Ticket to Ride." And she delivers an achingly vulnerable cover of Rod Stewart's "My Heart Can't Tell You No," while wrapping up the set with a new bluegrass-flavored treatment of her 2000 hit "Born to Fly." The album's lead single, "A Little Bit Stronger," is in the top 20 of the country chart, proving that a remarkable singer with a great song can always write a new chapter.

Steve Martin announces new album with celebrity pals

Multi-talented Grammy® and Emmy winning actor/comedian/musician and bestselling author Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers have announced the release of their second Bluegrass album in June. They will be touring the UK in July doing 3 dates

Rare Bird Alert (Rounder) is a follow-up to his Grammy®-winning 2009 release, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo (Rounder) and will be released on June 13th.
Steve Martin will do three shows in July where he will be joined by the Steep Canyon Rangers, who also toured extensively with Martin over the last year and are featured on the new album.

Rare Bird Alert features 13 new Martin-penned tracks, and was produced by Tony Trischka. Sir Paul McCartney and The Dixie Chicks also make special guest vocal appearances on the album. Martin co-wrote two of the CD's songs with the Steep Canyon Rangers. Titles such as "Atheists Don't Have No Songs" and the infamous 'King Tut' show that Steve has taken a step further combining, his zany ideas into more vocals appearing on the upcoming album, alongside some very tight bluegrass instrumentals.

Speaking about his recording experience Steve Martin said the following:
'I came in as an outsider, so I didn't know what the reception would be like, but it was very warm. We reached a lot of bluegrass people, and I think we reached a lot of non-bluegrass people, too' - Billboard Magazine, March 12, 2011

UK Tour Dates;

8th July ' London HMV Hammersmith Apollo
9th July ' Manchester O2 Apollo
10th July ' Glasgow Clyde Cultural Hall

Pigeon Detectives O2 Academy Liverpool

The Pigeon Detectives (PD) honoured the O2 Academy with an amazing performance as part of their 2011 tour, promoting their new album ‘Up, Guards And At’Em!’released 4th April. Considering the bands last full EP release was ‘Emergency’ back in 2008, tonight's gig (like many on the tour) was a sell-out and packed with a mixture of anxious fans eagerly awaiting the main performers. Supporting acts ‘Club Smith’ and the ‘The Heartbreaks’ warmed the crowd up nicely, the Heartbreaks with their rockabilly sound and latest single ‘Jealous, Don’t you Know’.

The PD boys; Matt (Vocals), Jimmi (Drums), Oliver (Guitar), Dave (Bass) and Ryan (Guitar) have had moderate success over the years and from the crowds reaction to the bands first track ’Done In Secret’ off of the upcoming album they have plenty more coming their way.

Okay, for the record, let me just say that as a front man, Matt Bowman gave the gig his all and plenty of beans. Not only was he jumping around the stage like a kid hyped up on sugar but his performance got the crowd literally jumping for joy and he fed off that energy and vice versa. I was slightly disappointed that the boys didn’t play more material from 2007’s ‘Wait For Me’ or 2008’s ‘Emergency’ but the crowd loved the new stuff and I think they redeemed themselves by playing some of the songs that made the fans fall in love them. The Pigeon Detectives have always stuck to their strong indie-rock sound and appear to be sticking with what works with regards to their new album.

Fist-pumping tracks that really psyched the crowd up included ‘This Is An Emergency’ and ‘I Found Out’. Emergency whipped the crowd into a state of frenzy with screams, whistles and a mass of arms punching the air in unison as they belted out the chorus. I Found Out had a similar affect on the crowd, Matt sang one part and the crowd sang the response, really getting them involved with the music.

The rest of the gig was a mixture of old and new with the likes of the slower track ‘Keep On Your Dress’ being a particular crowd pleaser and ‘I’m Not Gonna Take This’ causing a mosh pit in the centre of the crowd (right by me!) Album tracks ‘Say It Like You Mean It’ and ‘Take Her Back’ also gained favourable cheers from the crowd suggesting the band can do no wrong.

The crowed erupted into chants of “we want more! we want more”, proving how entertaining the boys are and how much they are loved by the fans. Of course they obliged and treated the audience to an encore of ‘What You Gonna Do’, a track from their upcoming album.

I honestly have to say that this gig is in my top ten and it’s going to take something inspiring to knock it off. Everything was incredible, the crowd, the atmosphere, the music and the experience.

Angry Birds Seasons

The idea behind Angry Birds Seasons--Rovio's follow-up to the massively popular Angry Birds game--is to introduce new levels for different seasons and holidays. Four incremental updates have come out already, so you have over 85 new levels to play. Although you won't find any new birds to shoot, each theme brings new obstacles and nicely designed landscapes through which to fling your feathered fliers.

Angry Birds Seasons debuted with a Halloween theme, complete with pumpkins, bats, dangling lanterns, a full moon, and spooky trees; this installment offered 45 levels. Soon afterward, the "Season's Greetings" Christmas-themed pack added 25 more. Even though the inclusion of snow and presents everywhere was nice, I found the physics for the Season's Greetings pack to be a bit lacking.

While it's certainly fun to have more levels, after flinging hundreds of birds the gameplay starts to get a bit repetitive. You find yourself yearning for new, vastly different birds that can do new things.

Another issue is the number of ads. Now, I am a big proponent of developers' getting paid for their hard work, and I think both the paid-app and ad-based models are good, but in this title it feels as if Rovio is taking things a bit far. At the start of every turn, a small banner ad displays in the upper left. That seems a little much to me, but it isn't over the top. What does feel like too much, though, is that every four turns or so a full-screen video ad displays, interrupting your game. You can skip past it, but it's still somewhat annoying.

Overall, Angry Birds Seasons is a fun game, as the original Angry Birds was, and I appreciate having more levels. However, more levels is all it really offers. I'd like to see some more innovation from the Rovio team for the next release.