It turns out coming in second place for American Idol may not be such a bad thing. For this season’s talent competition, finalists Adam Lambert and Kris Allen teamed up with British luminaries Queen for “We Are The Champions”. Although Allen ended up sweeping the vote to be crowned the next Idol, it turns out guitarist Brian May is open to the idea of more collaboration with Lambert.
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In honor of the Memorial Day weekend, we took a very small poll asking a few friends to give us their ideal summer song. You know, the kind you would want to hear if you were outside driving around right now without a care in the world. Then we narrowed it down to seven eleven (an arbitrary number, who knows, it still may expand). So, here are seven eleven summer classics from Sister Nancy, Pavement, The Pharcyde, Donovan, Dizzee Rascal, Animal Collective, Screeching Weasel, People Under the Stairs, Dan Deacon, Queen and the one, the only, The Notorious B.I.G..
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Notes From Middle America is contributor Danny R. Phillips’ monthly column. You can read past installments here.
I have to ask. What happened to rock? Has it become passé or uncool for a band to struggle, tour, play shows night after night to build a fan base without the help of excessive internet buzz or douche bags in the “hip” magazines who supposedly have their fingers on the pulse of the American youth culture? If a band has to work hard to get what they have, is that far less important than the mandatory polo shirts they wear on stage?
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Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele is quite a delicious listen, he plays tuneful ukulele-drenched retro pop that will definitely be appealing to any fans of Jens Lekman, Beirut or Sufjan Stevens. His music is a melting pot of influences mainly from the 50s drawing from vintage doo-wop, Tropicália, and a classic American crooner sensibility that is reminiscent of Glenn Campbell.
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Maybe it’s cliché, but it’s hard not to get a certain Queen song stuck in your head when headlines like today’s — Alpha Media closes popular music magazine Blender — just won’t stop coming. The magazine’s April issue, on stands now, will be its last.
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