Lily Allen topless is a headline that was bound to pop up given the singer's tabloid ridden young career, from her topless texts to her lesbian threesome kisses. And, particularly since Amy Winehouse made topless headlines earlier this year. But, unlike Winehouse who was frolicking topless on holiday, Lily Allen bears her breasts for GQ magazine's UK version, which named her Woman of the Year.

And, maybe it's a sign of me aging, but I have to say while I always enjoy a nice topless shot what interests me most about the pics is her new haircut. The new doo makes her look quite sexy, something I'd never thought I'd use to describe Lily Allen. If you'd like to see the new haircut and of course the topless pics, you can click here.

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen

Lily Allen is seemingly still trying to out tabloid Amy Whinehouse. Following her accidental topless text, Lily is outing a different set of twins. This time the twins are two young ladies the UK singer says she's "snogged" in the past:



On the music front, Allen recently released a cover of the Clash's "Straight To Hell" for the War Child: Heroes record due out February 15th. Clash purists may not dig it, but it really isn't that bad as Allen puts her own spin on it. You can listen here.

Some times I think Lily Allen is insecure about her singing ability. If so, that (and her young age) would help explain all the trashtastic behavior. But, hey, maybe she just realizes that stories of lesbian sex will help sell more records. She may be right, particularly if there is a video tape on the horizon!

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen

Amy Winehouse never ceases to amuse - and often to scare. On a recent visit to the beach she manages to do a little of both by bearing her breasts in a topless romp (NSFW link) on the beach as well as dancing a topless jig on her hotel balcony.

Meanwhile, Mark Ronson who produced her smash Back to Black (yes, brother to Sam of Lindsay Lohan fame) reportedly says he'd be happy to work with Winehouse again when she's ready to put out her next record. No word on whether Amy has any plans to bring Mark back into the mix.

However, another "collaborator" certainly won't be "working" with her any time soon. The man who sold video footage of Winehouse doing crack was sentenced to two years in jail. Maybe the budding filmmaker will be cellmates with Amy's hubby?!?

Labels: Amy Winehouse

By: David Schultz

When I was grade school, I used to get excited about the Grammy Awards. I didn’t realize at the time that making great music and being a talented musician can often be mutually exclusive to being an artist with massive notoriety and impressive record sales. Gradually learning that the Grammys don’t acknowledge phenomenal talents like The Beatles and Bob Dylan until decades after they deserved their accolades, I now watch them to see artists that I would never take the time to see live. Where the Oscars acknowledge the most artistic films and performances of the year, the Grammys seem to go out of their way to ignore or pigeonhole the year’s most critically appraised efforts. How do you respect a music awards show that marginalizes Radiohead, Arcade Fire, The National and Panda Bear, hardly giving them a mention on a 3 ½ hour broadcast.

Undoubtedly, the night belonged to Amy Winehouse. If she isn't willing to do it with her personal life, Winehouse cleaned up at the 50th Annual Awards. As expected, the troubled singer won Best New Artist and, in absentia, also took Record of the Year, Song of Year and Best Female Pop Performance for “Rehab” as well as Best Pop Vocal Album for Back To Black. Her success even spread to her producer, Mark Ronson, who won Best Producer mainly for his work on Winehouse's album. Even though her visa problems were cleared up in time for her to attend the telecast, Winehouse didn’t make the trip to the Staples Center. Performing by satellite from London, Winehouse turned in a relatively coherent but somewhat apathetic version of "You Know I'm No Good" before smirking her way though a heartfelt rendition of "Rehab" that scored high on the unintentional comedy scale.

The night's true surprise took place at the end of the night when Quincy Jones and Usher announced Herbie Hancock as the winner of Album of the Year for River: The Joni Letters. In beating out Winehouse, Kanye West, Foo Fighters and Vince Gill, Hancock's album of Joni Mitchell covers was a completely unexpected winner. While nice to see the jazz great getting recognized for his work, his victory deprived the telecast of one final glimpse of Winehouse or what would have definitely been a memorable victory speech from West.

As for the show itself, the Grammy Awards has become an event where perfectly good musicians seem to get talked into doing idiotic things. Alicia Keyes deserved better than to sing along with a grainy Frank Sinatra video, Carrie Underwood seemed greatly out of place singing amongst a garage-girl stage setup that seemed lifted from Stomp and sending a blitzed Kid Rock out on stage to croon “That Ol’ Black Magic” with 75-year-old Keely Smith and Dave Koz seemed cruel and flat out bizarre. The less said about will.i.am's mercifully short and extremely ill-conceived Grammy rap the better.

Not to say there weren’t some truly great moments. Jay and Silent Bob may have been the only people cheering louder when Morris Day and The Time broke into “Jungle Love.” With Prince presenting an award just minutes before, I wondered whether Apollonia was going to show up to complete the Purple Rain trifecta. I’ve always been a big Tina Turner fan. Although it was awkward to see her on the same broadcast that later honored the man best known for beating her, I loved that her return to the stage was treated as a big deal. Her duet with Beyonce on “Proud Mary” took me back to my first concert where I saw her perform it from the fourth row at Madison Square Garden. Looking like a younger version of Tina, Beyonce accepted the torch being passed by one of the true legends of R&B.

The Grammys have borrowed the Jammy formula of putting together different combinations of artists. Some made perfect sense: like Daft Punk and their signature pyramid rising up in the midst of Kanye West’s performance of his Best Rap Solo Performance winning “Stronger.” The most entertaining artist slated for the broadcast, West performed with his mother’s name etched into the back of his head and it was hard not to feel for the brash, cocky singer when he emotionally honored his mother who passed away at the end of last year. Other combinations seemed forced. It must have taken negotiations of diplomatic sensitivity to get the egos of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis in check long enough to play together. With pissed expressions, likely from having to share a stage, they joined John Fogerty for a medley that included "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Great Balls Of Fire." The Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones had to be part of some My Grammy Moment American Idol style sweepstakes but were lucky enough that Ian Anderson find Ann Marie Calhoun, who plays a mean rock and roll violin, won the contest.

The Best Taunt of the Night came at Kanye West's expense. After receiving the Grammy for Best Country Album for These Days, a slightly starstruck Vince Gill accepted his award from presenter Ringo Starr by humbly saying “I just got an award given to me by a Beatle.” He then searched the room until he found West and with a twinkle in his eye asked, “have you had that happen yet, Kanye?”

The Lifetime Achievement Awards, which were handed out throughout the night, have become simply ridiculous and only serve to highlight the Grammys’ cluelessness with respect to musicians that truly made a lasting impact on our society. Doris Day received one such honor this year but despite a full medley honoring The Beatles, the Grammys have yet to give them this honor. Maybe they’re waiting to see if The Beatles music takes on the same type of cultural relevancy as Doris Day's before they pass judgment on their legacy. Ringo Starr did get to accept an award during the show, coming on stage with George & Giles Martin when they won the award for Best Soundtrack Album for Love. Levon Helm - a Grammy winner this year for Traditional Folk Album – opted against travelling to L.A. to receive the Lifetime Award, hosting a Grammy Ramble in Woodstock instead. Robbie Robertson was in attendance and got to accept Tom Hanks’ kind words and praise on behalf of The Band.

In the rock categories: Bruce Springsteen snared Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song for “Radio Nowhere” as well as Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “Once Upon A Time In The West;” The White Stripes won Best Rock Vocal Performance By A Duo or Group with Vocals for “Icky Thump” and beat out Arcade Fire for Best Alternative Album. Foo Fighters won Best Hard Rock Performance for “The Pretender” and Best Rock Album for Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.

Other winners of interest were; J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton getting Best Contemporary Blues Album for The Road To Escondido; Steve Earle taking Best Contemporary Folk/American Album for Washington Square Serenade; Robert Plant & Alison Krauss snagging Best Pop Collaboration for “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” and The Beastie Boys leaving with Best Pop Instrumental Album for The Mix Up. After beating Hillary Clinton in the Maine Caucuses, Barack Obama edged out her husband to take the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.

Labels: Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse may be in the clear for perverting justice (the British equivalent of witness tampering) but when it comes to the Grammy Awards, the United States is saying "no, no, no." The U.S. Embassy in England denied the 6-time nominee's application for a visa, citing her arrest and fine for cannabis possession in Norway this past October. It surely couldn't have helped that the formerly beehived singer has made herself a youtube attraction after getting caught on camera smoking crack.

Winehouse will still perform on the Grammy telecast this Sunday night, only she'll be doing it via satellite.

Labels: Amy Winehouse

[Ed. Note: Earvolution's artist development and production side of the business has a few tricks up its sleeve for 2008 as well; new Pawnshop Roses coming soon and expect a major announcement involving the marrying of new media technology with one of the most revered brands in American music history.]

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, Drive By Truckers, Led Zeppelin, Lenny Kravitz, Licorice, North Mississippi Allstars, The Black Crowes, The Hold Steady, U-Melt

As I've written before, sometimes having loads of talent isn't enough to be a prime time professional musician and Amy Winehouse seems to be a prime example. Obviously this woman has a big time voice and if she chooses can have a huge career. But, her offstage problems may curb or, if things get really ugly, squash her career in it's infancy.

The latest reported Winehouse debacle has her totally missing a video shoot. The date was set, the location was picked, the crew was in place, everyone was ready and willing to help Amy by working on this video - everyone, except Amy herself. According to NME, Winehouse was a no show on the set for a scheduled video shoot for "Love is a Losing Game." The report says Amy was too hungover to make it.

Again, some of this is Amy being rushed to stardom too fast. And, some of it is just plain selfishness. No matter how much potential is there you can only keep people waiting so many times before they give up on you. Here's hoping Amy turns things around while she still can.

Labels: Amy Winehouse

Dirty Harry is being hyped as the next UK "femme fatale" to take America by storm. The question to be answered is whether she'll live up to the hype. Or, in this case, it may be best if, at least in some ways, she doesn't.

It is a publicist's job to help build buzz by comparing a new artist to established acts to give people a frame of favorable reference from which to view the new act. Even the most cynical of people can be persuaded to give a look or listen if told that so and so is the next big thing and they sound like [your favorite hip band]. I think that is an acceptable practice and do it myself all the time. However, one must be careful in deploying that strategy.

I recently received an email touting the musical stylings of a new British "siren." The next big sound that I had to hear was the "the jungle-cat growl of London-transplant Dirty Harry." Seriously, that was what they said. But, that type of cheesey line is normal. Publicists treat most of us like we're a bunch of ten year olds ready to jump on what they say is the latest craze simply because they tell us too. So, by now, I'm used to the "OMG! this is sooooo great" pitch style. No, the worst offense by this publicist was committed in the first line of the pitch by inviting us to compare Ms. Harry to both Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, primarily because of their country of origins.

Last fall, or even very early this year, that probably would have been a "money" pitch. Both Winehouse and Allen were hot. Both of these "stars" were promoted hard in the British tabloids, and of course, because of the constant repetition of their names in the UK press, which is where much of the U.S. media gets the underlying nuggets of celebrity news from corporate aggregators located there, the U.S. celebrity sheets and sites began "reporting" on the pair as if they were as big as the Beatles before most in the States really had a chance to listen to their music and, more importantly, before the two ladies had a chance to establish themselves as performers ready to jump to the international stage. Now only months later, their stars have tarnished because despite both putting out decent records, neither have proved ready for prime time when it came to performing live - the hallmark of what makes a real musician earn Beatles-type hype.

I'm not saying they are incapable of performing well live. I just think both would have benefited from a slower rise to the top if they were allowed more time to hone their stage craft and become more comfortable performing live over time before increasingly larger crowds (see Grace Potter for how it's done). Now, the "buzz" on each is that they are notorious concert cancellers.

Winehouse had already began building a reputation for missing shows and is now the subject of tabloid reports placing the rehab singer in a real rehab while missing a string of U.S. tour dates. And, Lily Allen just cancelled a U.S. tour for reasons that might not be completely her fault. But, this isn't the first time she's cancelled dates either. Reports had her cancelling shows earlier this year because she was "tired" and not performing as well as she wanted too, or something like that. It seems to me that neither were ready for the grueling pace of the road when you are elevated to the status of a "big time performer." I believe that if these ladies were less hyped and allowed to progress at a more traditional pace they'd have fewer musical problems than they do now. All of which, brings us back to Dirty Harry. For her sake, I hope the comparisons to Allen and Winehouse don't bear out to be too similar - at least in the tabloid sense - and stop at their shared geographic history.

Mp3: Dirty Harry, "Frayed at the Edges"

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen

Amy Winehouse is beginning to rival Axl Rose in the show cancellation department. Winehouse's latest cancellation came at LA's Spaceland this week. The singer was apparently "too sad" to perform, apparently still stung from a recent break up. Amy is the "it" act for self-important hipsters here in the US so I'll refrain from "Whinehouse" type puns for fear of disapproval from the cool crowd.

Star Magazine reports that Joan Jett and Carmen Electra have become quite the couple. Electra is set to perform with her all-girl burlesque group, the Bombshell Babies. Electra's visit coincides with the annual Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs, a hot spot for girls in love. "They've been dating since before Thanksgiving," says a Star source. "They don't co-habitate, but they do spend a lot of time together." Rock on Joan!

Mp3 offerings:
Parlor Mob: Bullet
The Atari Star: This is Where I Often Pause
Apollo Sunshine: Magnolia
Target Market: The Beat
Army of Me: Going Through Changes
Oakley Hall: Lazy Susan
Asobi Seksu: Thursday
Hoots & Hellmouth: Home in a Boxcar
Modest Mouse: People As Places As People

Gene Simmons agreed to have some eye surgery filmed as part of his reality series Family Jewels. PR reps for the show say some of it was too graphic to air, but kosher enough for YouTube. View the clip here.

Amoeba Music is releasing a limited EP of TV on the Radio. The four-track disc, TV on the Radio Live at Amoeba was recorded at Amoeba's Hollywood location in September of 2006. The songs, "Blues From Down Here," "Wolf Like Me," "Province," and "Wash the Day" are live versions of tracks from their latest album, Return to Cookie Mountain.

The new Modest Mouse record We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank is out. You can check out the video for "Dashboard" here. MM will kick off a tour April 15th in Seattle.

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Modest Mouse, Mp3s

Van Halen reunion with Roth? E! Online reports that a deal could be signed as early as today for a 40 city tour. An email I sent to Eddie Van Halen's rep on the West Coast this morning is unanswered. Given the time difference, I'll update later if this is confirmed.

MTV UK reports that Amy Winehouse and Jamie Callum were among a group kicked out of a London bar last night. The same report cites the Sun as saying that Jarvis Cocker and Ronnie Wood were also part of a group hanging around the bar's piano and apparently making too much noise for management. Perhaps the managers didn't realize they had the "next big thing" in their presence?

Speaking of Ronnie Wood if you've ever wanted to "jam with the Stones" as Spicoli would say, the next best thing might be a rock fantasy camp. Wood is reported to be among the instructors for a rock school that would also include Cream bassist Jack Bruce, Procol Harum singer Gary Brooker and Spencer Davis. Gigwise says that students paying the hefty tuition fee will also be taken to a recording session at Abbey Road Studios and play a gig at the Cavern in Liverpool.

Fall Out Boy is reportedly the latest victim of a leaked record. Pete Wentz told NME, "This isn't the end of the world, (but) it certainly feels pretty terrible." The band will reportedly add a bonus track to the official release to encourage fans to pay for the official version instead of downloading the leaked tracks.

Rumors are flying about the Who playing the monster Glastonbury festival. Artic Monkeys, Bjork, the Killers, Razorlight and the Smashing Pumpkins are also being tossed around as possible bands on the bill. Speaking of the Who, I read somewhere the other day that Pete Townsend sort of apologized for saying bands like the Stones were too old to tour anymore [insert your own "hope I die before I get old joke here].

I just got this mp3 from Chicago's Dearborn so I haven't had time to fully digest it. But, it sounded decent on a first listen and Jambase says: "Want to see a great rock band and dance your ass off? Then go see Dearborn, a rock and roll quartet from Chicago that knows how to blend killer riffs and catchy melodies with funky dance beats and flat-out grooves. This isn't emo, this isn't metal, this isn't prog. This is straight-up rock, and it's not to be missed." So, check them out!
MP3: Already Down

Philadelphia's Dr. Dog is readying their new release. We All Belong will be released in February and the band, who in the past have toured wth Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, My Morning Jacket and other big names will embark on their own US tour. Label mates The Teeth will be on many of those dates.
MP3: My Old Ways

The Ataris new record, Welcome the Night, drops on February 20th. I'm told that it is a bit of a departure from their previous stuff and that the record was produced by Nick Launay (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds / David Byrne). If you listen carefully you may here hints of The Pixies and Sigur Ros.
MP3: Connections Are More Dangerous Than Lies

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Arctic Monkeys, David Lee Roth, Dr. Dog, Pete Townshend, Philadelphia, The Teeth, The Who, Van Halen

Check out Gym Class Heroes on AOL Music Sessions Undercover. They perform acoustic versions of 'Cupid's Chokehold' and 'The Queen And I' from the As Cruel As School Children record as well as putting their own spin on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Under The Bridge.'

Mat Kearney is hitting the road as part of the VH1 "You Oughta Know" Tour. Mat will be joined by The Feeling and Rocco DeLuca and the Burden. The tour kicks off in March in Denver. Not to be outdone, MTV has Lily Allen headlining its "Discover and Download" tour.

If you're in NYC you should check out the Kerri Black's singer/songwriter showcase this Thursday January 25, 2007 at Mo Pitkins 34 Ave A. Kerry's bill includes Lin McEwan, Gregory Paul and Dave Doobin. The kicks off at 8:45.

Snow Patrol drummer's Jonny Quinn broken his arm while snow boarding. Yes, quite ironic. Quinn's injury will not side line the band. The rest of the Patrol will continue to tour with a replacement drummer. NME reports that ex-Therapy drummer Graham Hopkins will fill in.

Matt Russell will release his debut for Apology Records, Climbing, on February 6th. LocalBuzz says "Russell has an evocative, emotional voice that can deliver the raw power of stripped-down Springsteen one moment and the gruff, melancholic intimacy of Tom Waits the next." Listen to the title track here.

Amy Winehouse, who recently kicked off a US tour, continues to make label execs happy. She's #1 in the UK (two weeks in a row) and according to Island Records has now shipped over 500k albums. Amy has also been nominated for Best Album and Best Female Vocalist for the Brit Awards. Check out mp3s for "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good." YouTube has the video for Rehab here.

If you're going to write a song called "Punkrocker," there aren't too many better choices than to get Iggy Pop to sing it. That's exactly what Sweden's Teddybears did. Check out the video for Punkrocker here.

Pagoda is set to release their self-titled album on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label on Feb 27th. You can listen to their energetic "Lesson Learned" here.

Angels & Airwaves are working on their new record. They'll do some recording in Tom DeLonge's Macbeth recording studios. The band will also play an Earth Day concert at the school that wins the mtvU GE "ecomagination challenge."

In other green band news, O.A.R. has partnered with the Clif GreenNotes campaign to promote environmental awareness during the course of the band's Winter Tour with Gomez. Both bands are trying to "green up" their act by using biodiesel to fuel their tour buses, offsetting the tour's CO2 emissions through the purchase of clean, renewable wind energy credits, minimizing the idling of tour buses and staying at hotels identified as more sustainable.

Roger Waters contributes a track to the soundtrack for The Last Mimzy. The tune "Hello (I Love You)" features guest appearances by drummer Steve Gadd (Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Steely Dan), guitarist Gerry Leonard (music director/guitarist for David Bowie), with Waters on bass and vocals. The Last Mimzy's 6-year-old star Rhiannon Leigh Wryn also appears on the track, singing along with Waters on the chorus.

Labels: Amy Winehouse, Gym Class Heroes, Mat Kearney, OAR, Roger Waters, Snow Patrol