Far from the dark-clouded pessimist he’s often portrayed as on the radio, singer-songwriter/radio producer/radio host Danny Balis is, at least on this day, in a great mood.

And why shouldn’t he be? The former Sorta and current King Bucks bassist is just about to self-release his debut solo effort, Too Much Living, a killer collection of hardcore country that’s perfectly suited to Balis’ rich baritone.

“I just put one song up on my MySpace page the other day, and it’s already gotten almost 17,000 listens,” Balis says with a tone of bemused excitement.

… for more visit theobserver/danny balis solo album

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Songs for ‘The Beatles: Rock Band’ game announced

The game’s official website Thebeatlesrockband.com has revealed that players will be able to tackle tracks from across the Fab Four’s career, including “Twist And Shout”, “Yellow Submarine” and “Come Together”.

The list of songs so far is:

“A Hard Day’s Night”
“And Your Bird Can Sing”
“Back In The USSR”
“Birthday”
“Boys”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“Come Together”
“Day Tripper”

… for more visit yahoo music/beatles rock band

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2009 VMAs: Katy Perry Talks Playing ‘West Side Story”s Anita, ‘Seductive’ Banana Peeling

Unless you’ve been living in a cave without cable, you’ll know that MTV’s been featuring your favorite artists in promotional TV spots for this year’s VMAs. After seeing Cobra Starship and Taylor Swift do their rendition of West Side Story‘s “Tonight,” sultry songstress Katy Perry is up next.

Her VMA promo debuts next week, but until then, we’ve got a behind-the-scenes interview of Katy on the set of her “Tonight” shoot. She tells us about how she can relate to playing the character of Anita (because “Anita is hotter, cooler and sluttier”) and how she purposefully peeled the banana on her outfit from last year’s VMA performance in a “seductive” way.

Watch the full interview clip below, and check out photos from the shoot. (And don’t forget to tune in on Sunday, September 13 at 9pm to see if Katy wins Best Female Video against Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga and Pink.)

… for more visit mtv/katy perry vma

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Soon after Eminem released his track “Bagpipes From Baghdad,” which takes aim at Mariah Carey, there had been speculation that Carey’s single and the video for “Obsessed” were a counterattack on the rapper.

Now fans are taking sides, saying Mariah needs to own up to her reported relationship with the rapper. “Eminem just OWNED Mariah,” QUEST IS ABDC wrote on MTVNews.com. “Play with fire, you’ll get burned. She needs to admit and face the truth about the relationship. If they ain’t really have a relationship, Eminem wouldn’t go this far. He’s the TRUTH.”

Meanwhile, jpowell06 wrote, “I like Mariah and all, but she kinda had it comin’. If you had a relationship with the dude, just say it and be over it. Don’t deny it. Em is just being Em, hate it or love it. I think he went a lil overboard with the name callin’, but I still love him, cuz he’s always being real and tellin’ it like it is. I wanna see what Nick Cannon gonna say about this one.”

… for more visit mtv/eminem carey

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Jay-Z Celebrates Live Instruments on “Blueprint 3 ” Album Cover

Jay-Z posted the above image — a cornucopia of white-painted instruments — on his official Website today, which implies he’ll be using the graphic as the cover of his eagerly anticipated The Blueprint 3. The cover echoes BP3’s aesthetic, Jay’s reliance on live instruments — he brought a 10-piece band with him for his All Points West performance — as opposed to studio trickery, which Jigga officially declared “D.O.A” with his first BP3 single. As for those three red streaks, we’re assuming it represents that this is the third Blueprint and not an homage to the equal sign on the cover of U2’s No Line on the Horizon.

… for more visit rollingstone/jayz album cover

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Building the perfect schedule for Perry’s party: the Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kings of Leon and more

All festivals come packaged with them the necessity of choice, but few festivals make those choices as difficult as Lollapalooza, once again anchored by Perry Farrell’s Jane’s Addiction. With eight stages full-up for 12 hours over three days, you may find yourself having to ask some pretty ridiculous questions, like “Lou Reed or Snoop Dogg?” “Andrew Bird or Of Montreal”? We’ve done our best to eliminate some of those dilemmas below, but for the headliners, even we’re not gonna make that call. Here’s our guide to risk-minimization at Perry’s big party.

… for more visit rollingstone/lollapalooza schedule

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notes: This article originally appeared in the May 30, 1997 issue of the Boston Phoenix

lyrics to ‘Morphine’:

A hot buzz baby
He’s one of us baby
Another drug baby
You so desire

Trust in me
Trust in me
Put all your trust in me
You’re doin’ morphine

Hoo!

They got place baby
Kicked in the face baby
You hate your race baby
You’re just a liar

Your every lick baby
Your dog’s a bitch baby
You make me sick baby
You soul survivor

But those songs pale beside “Morphine,” a truly twisted piece of work that begins as almost-funk before segueing into a Peter-Pan-on-acid sequence.

What’s more, the five new songs are all on the same subject, turning the fear of women he expressed on “Billie Jean” into full-blown paranoia. Both the title track and “Superfly Sister” are otherwise tepid funk pieces that find Jackson invoking the name “Susie” as though he were summoning the Antichrist. But those songs pale beside “Morphine,” a truly twisted piece of work that begins as almost-funk before segueing into a Peter-Pan-on-acid sequence. “Good God, he’s taking Demerol,” chants a quavering, panicked-sounding Jackson. Weird and scary.

… for more visit thephoenix/mj story

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‘American Idol’ vet says she was happy to have more time to work on LP.

For her just-released new album, Battlefield, Jordin Sparks didn’t want to rest on her “American Idol”-winning laurels. Much like on her debut album, Sparks contributed to the songwriting on the album, collaborating with writers like Toby Gad and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder.

“I had so much fun doing it. Writing is really therapeutic, I am finding out,” Sparks told MTV News. “I’ve always loved to write. Ever since I was in the fourth grade I’ve written poetry and I’ve loved words and language arts. Everybody else in my family thinks I’m crazy, but it was my favorite thing to do.”

… for more visit mtv/jordan sparks story

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Green Day Deliver Unforgettable Performance At Madison Square Garden

Everyone has that one album that can define their youth. For me, that album was Green Day’s Dookie. I played it on repeat so often, my brother physically pried it from my hands one day because it was driving him crazy. I was 11 years old when the record came out and established Green Day as a breakthrough punk rock band. It took me fifteen years, but I finally got to see them live last night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The concert was just as I’d imagined it would be: Lots of stunts, pyrotechnics, fierce drumming by Tré Cool, plenty of joking around by Billie Joe and enough songs from Dookie to please the older folks like myself.

… for more visit mtv/green day madison square garden

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more about “Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy Kick Off Ameri…“, posted with vodpod

Soulja Boy, Drake, Jeremih, Pleasure P and the Young Money crew bring Scranton to its feet.

No lie, no exaggeration. The music at the Young Money Presents: The America’s Most Wanted Music Festival launch at the Toyota Pavilion Monday night was so well-received, a fan in a wheelchair jumped up to rock to the music.

After love daddies Jeremih and Pleasure P played up the sexiness of their music to start the show, Soulja Boy Tell’em injected door-to-door energy during his set. With a flurry of mixtape jams and album cuts such as “Gucci Bandanna,” the teen sensation shook the outdoor venue. “Crank That” came on, and the man in the wheelchair sitting about 10 rows back stood up and sang along. Soulja’s DJ switched the very familiar instrumental track to a rock-and-roll beat.

… for more visit mtv/americas most wanted festival

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