Two Musical Tracks Released from "'The Flash' (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)"

Two Batman-Themed Tracks Released From The Flash (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

“I Am Batman” and “Sounds About Right, Bruce” Now Available From WaterTower Music

Featuring the Music of 2X GRAMMY- and BAFTA-Nominated Composer Benjamin Wallfisch

The Flash (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Full Album Preorders Now Available: Triple LP, Two Color Vinyl and Double CD

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WaterTower Music has announced the release of two highly anticipated tracks of music from Warner Bros. Pictures’ upcoming film “The Flash,” along with the availability of preorders for Triple LP, Two-Color Vinyl and Double CD versions of the full The Flash (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).

The two Batman-related themes—“I Am Batman” and “Sounds About Right, Bruce”—are the latest music to be released from the upcoming The Flash (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), which features the music of celebrated two-time GRAMMY- and BAFTA-nominated composer, Benjamin Wallfisch, (the “IT” films, “Shazam,” “Blade Runner 2049” [with Hans Zimmer]). Two previous tracks from the upcoming album, “Worlds Collide” and “Run,” were made available two weeks ago. All four pieces of music are now available for streaming (Standard and Dolby Atmos / Spatial Audio configurations) and digital purchase, and will be on the soundtrack, scheduled for release the same day as director Andy Muschietti’s “The Flash”—the DC Super Hero’s first-ever standalone feature film—is set to open in theaters in North America, June 16, 2023.

Fans may find familiarity upon hearing “I Am Batman,” and for good reason. “The Flash” composer Benjamin Wallfisch explains: “As a DC fan for as long as I can remember, I’ve loved Danny Elfman’s ‘The Batman Theme’ from the moment it hit me as a 10 year old back in 1989. It’s of course one of the most iconic themes of all time, and so beloved by fans around the world, it was my job to pull all the stops out and celebrate it in “The Flash” when Keaton is on screen, whilst also finding a way to completely reinvent it for our movie. Keaton returns to this role with more complexity, and a lot more physicality – the music needed to reflect that,” the composer continued. “Andy encouraged me to go all-in with mining all kinds of variations from those iconic six notes and you can hear them both full tilt, but also planted as Easter Eggs. It was so much fun to get to play in that world.

Wallfisch continued: “The music for Ben Affleck’s Batman, “Sounds About Right, Bruce,” has a completely different approach. I wanted to honor the sheer intensity of sound and orchestration that we’ve heard created for his character in recent films, but as his action takes place in the world of The Flash, it needed a ton of propulsion and forward motion, and from that came this new Batman Theme. There’s also a new theme capturing Batman’s backstory (as yet unreleased) that connects both Affleck and Keaton in the movie, heard several times at some key moments in the story.”

ABOUT “THE FLASH”:

Warner Bros. Pictures presents “The Flash,” directed by Andy Muschietti. Ezra Miller reprises their role as Barry Allen in the DC Super Hero’s first-ever standalone feature film. Worlds collide when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past. But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?

“The Flash” ensemble also includes rising star Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue and Michael Keaton. It is produced by Barbara Muschietti and Michael Disco. The screenplay is by Christina Hodson, with a screen story by John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein and Joby Harold, based on characters from DC. The executive producers are Toby Emmerich, Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Marianne Jenkins.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Double Dream/a Disco Factory Production of an Andy Muschietti Film, “The Flash” will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures and is set to open in theaters in North America on June 16, 2023 and internationally beginning 14 June 2023.

ABOUT BENJAMIN WALLFISCH:

Golden Globe, BAFTA, two-time Grammy, Emmy and five-time World Soundtrack Award nominee, composer Benjamin Wallfisch has worked on over 80 feature films, collaborating with directors including Ron Howard, Ted Melfi, Andy Muschietti, Christopher Nolan, David F. Sandberg, Leigh Whannell, Gore Verbinski and Denis Villeneuve. His latest project is Andy Muschietti’s The Flash for DC / Warner Bros.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London—and mentored by Dario Marianelli and Hans Zimmer—Benjamin’s notable projects include It and It Chapter Two, Blade Runner 2049 (with Hans Zimmer), Shazam!, The Invisible Man, Mortal Kombat, Thirteen Lives, A Cure For Wellness, Annabelle: Creation, King Of Thieves, Hidden Figures (with Pharrell Williams and Hans Zimmer), and music based on Elgar’s Enigma Variations for Dunkirk.

Benjamin has performed live in over 100 concerts worldwide, conducting orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony at venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House and Royal Festival Hall. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and BAFTA, and is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2019 he founded The Scoring Lab, a state-of-the art scoring production company and Dolby Atmos Certified mix studio in the heart of Santa Monica, California.

ABOUT WATERTOWER MUSIC:

WaterTower Music, the in-house label for the Warner Bros. Discovery companies, releases recorded music as rich and diverse as the companies themselves. It has been the soundtrack home to many of the world’s most iconic films, television shows and games since 2001.

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Review: HIP HOP FAMILY TREE #1

HIP HOP FAMILY TREE No. 1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Ed Piskor
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2015)

“Birth of a New Culture!!”

Cartoonist Ed Piskor combined his two great loves, comic books and Hip Hop, and began chronicling the history of Hip Hop culture and rap music.  This was done in the form of a webcomic, Hip Hop Family Tree, which he as been serializing in weekly installments at the website, Boing Boing (boingboing.net) since January 2012.  This is the history of Hip Hop as told through comics – the who, what, when, and where of a culture and music that, from the beginning, refused to be marginalized and relegated to the ash bin of history by its haters.

Fantagraphics Books first collected Hip Hop Family Tree in print in a graphic novel format with Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 1: 1970s-1981 (December 2013), the first of three volumes, with a fourth nearly published (to date).  In the summer of 2015, Fantagraphics began reprinting the contents of the graphic novels as a monthly comic book series (the first monthly comic book in the company's four-decade history).

Hip Hop Family Tree #1 (“Birth of a New Culture!!”) reprints contents published in Hip Hop Family Tree Vol. 1: 1970s-1981.  Welcome to the very beginnings of Hip-Hop.  See the DJs, starting with DJ Kool Herc, who gave birth to a new music and culture in the tenement recreational rooms of the south Bronx in the 1970s.

A Bronx-based party DJ, Herc discovers that during his show, the audience really likes the instrumental “breaks” in the records.  An experimenter, Herc uses loops and mixing to extend the breaks and soon a talented core of other DJs begin to build upon the foundation that Herc develops.  Soon, emcees (or MCs) are “rapping” over the breaks and a new culture is born.  Also, pioneers Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa appear and see the man who invented the term, “hip-hop.”

I first heard about Hip Hop Family Tree in a press release I received from Fantagraphics Books.  I immediately knew that I wold be interested in reading it.  Hip Hop Family Tree is an excellent example of the comics medium as journalism, biography, and history  Hip Hop Family Tree as a comic book is a marriage made in heaven because both comics culture and Hip Hop culture are born of outside art forms.

Creator Ed Piskor’s vintage graphic design style, compositions, and graphical storytelling (complete with Zip-A-Tone and brown paper texture), gives Hip Hop Family Tree that distinctive 1970s comic book look.  His work has a dated feel, which is not a bad thing.  This striking visual and graphic aesthetic makes Hip Hop Family Tree look like a vintage, low-wattage documentary from the 1970s, while giving it the timeless sparkle and sense of fun that comic books (even old comics) have.

Hip Hop Family Tree #1 often reads like a college freshmen history essay written the night before its due.  It is all over the place and jumps from one historical figure and/or place to the next, but this is right process for the subject.  The history of Hip Hop is fast and furious; who did what and when is not always clear and agreed upon.  This is a story, and the story of Hip Hop is like a comic book story – brash and bold and against all the other proper and serious storytelling mediums (like novels, stage drama, poetry, etc.).  Do your thing and break the rules.  The fathers and mothers of Hip Hop did it their way and so does Hip Hop Family Tree.

Hip Hop Family Tree the monthly comic book offers new covers and splash pages drawn especially for the series.  Ed Piskor also presents a “director's commentary” that sights sources for the history of Hip Hop and also gives details on his motivations and processes and also on the research involved in creating each page.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Kevin Avery Tours to Support "Everything is an Afterthought"

On Tour Now: Kevin Avery Hits the Road with "Everything is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson"

“Kevin Avery has done something heroic here. Avery has rescued the work and the passion, the life and the meaning of the great Paul Nelson. Nelson was a deep and beautiful writer, mysterious and painstaking and brilliant. Thanks to Avery and Everything is an Afterthought, Paul Nelson’s work finally has a home.” — Cameron Crowe

What happened to legendary music critic Paul Nelson?

Fantagraphics Books Inc. invites you to find out as we present author/editor Kevin Avery on tour for the unique anthology-biography, Everything is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson – a collection that’s been called “music book of the year” by DangerousMinds.net.

In the ‘60s, Paul Nelson pioneered rock & roll criticism with a first-person style of writing that would later be popularized by the likes of Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer as “New Journalism.” As co-founding editor of The Little Sandy Review and managing editor of Sing Out!, he’d already established himself, to use his friend Bob Dylan’s words, as “a folk-music scholar”; but when Dylan went electric in 1965, Nelson went with him.

During a five-year detour at Mercury Records in the early 1970s, Nelson signed the New York Dolls to their first recording contract, then settled back down to writing criticism at Rolling Stone as the last in a great tradition of record-review editors that included Jon Landau, Dave Marsh, and Greil Marcus. Famously championing the early careers of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Rod Stewart, Neil Young, and Warren Zevon, Nelson not only wrote about them but often befriended them. Never one to be pigeonholed, he was also one of punk rock’s first stateside mainstream proponents, embracing The Sex Pistols and The Ramones.

But in 1982, he walked away from it all – Rolling Stone, his friends, and rock & roll. By the time he died in his New York City apartment in 2006 at the age of seventy – a week passing before anybody discovered his body – almost everything he’d written had been relegated to back issues of old music magazines.

How could a man whose writing had been so highly regarded have fallen so quickly from our collective memory?

With Paul Nelson’s posthumous blessing, Kevin Avery spent four years researching and writing Everything is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson, which compiles Nelson’s best works (some of it previously unpublished) while also providing a vivid account of his private and public lives. Avery interviewed almost 100 of Paul Nelson’s friends, family, and colleagues, including several of the artists about whom he’d written.

For additional information and a preview, please visit:
• www.fantagraphics.com/kevinavery
• www.fantagraphics.com/paulnelson


Kevin Avery's Tour Dates for Everything is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson

Wednesday, November 9th at 7:00 PM
Kevin Avery will be joined on stage by Dave Marsh, a rock critic, historian, anti-censorship activist, talk show host and “Louie Louie” expert who has written more than 20 books about rock and popular music. This event will be held in the Rare Book Room on the 3rd Floor of the Strand.
Strand Bookstore
828 Broadway (at 12th St.)
New York City, NY 10003

Thursday, December 1st at 7:00 PM
Join Kevin Avery for a signing and discussion.
Barnes & Noble Park Slope
267 7th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Saturday, December 3rd at 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Join Kevin Avery for a signing and discussion.
Farley’s Bookshop
44 South Main Street
New Hope, PA 18938

Tuesday, December 13th at 7:00 PM
Join Kevin Avery for a signing and discussion. Avery will be joined by musician Elliott Murphy, who will play a few tunes.
BookCourt
163 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

For more information, visit www.fantagraphics.com/news/averytour

Melody Moore in San Francisco Opera's "Heart of a Soldier"

Tickets are now on sale for the San Francisco Opera's World Premiere production, Heart of a Soldier. This opera, which will honor and commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the tragedy of September 11th, is based on the book by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist James B. Stewart.

The opera will tell the real life story of Rick Rescorla, from his time as a boy in Cornwall, England, through several military conflicts, including the Vietnam War, to his role as Vice President of Security for Morgan Stanley in the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

Soprano Melody Moore will be playing the role of Rick's wife, Susan Rescorla.

Performance dates are this September 10th, 13th, 18th, 21th, 24th, 27th and 30th. Please click on this link www.sfopera.com/offer and enter the code: HOSFAF to receive a 20% friends and family discount (for Ms. Moore) on your ticket purchase.

http://www.melodymooresoprano.com/
 
 

Big Time Rush in Bluewater's FAME Series

NICKELODEON'S TEEN PHENOMENON “BIG TIME RUSH” GETS THE COMIC BOOK TREATMENT IN AUGUST

Bluewater is pleased to announce a special graphic novel featuring the Nickelodeon phenomenon that is sweeping the nation's youth. Of course, we're talking about the boy band that includes Lendall, Logan, Carlos and James.

“FAME: Big Time Rush: The Graphic Novel” will be released in August and have a cover price of $7.99. The biography on the ascension of the boy band is written by CW Cooke and drawn by Erick Orlando Baez.

“We're excited to bring this book to the table,” said Publisher Darren G. Davis. “Our 'FAME' line has done extremely well with the tween generation. Parents are getting these biography comic books to help their kids learn about their icons in a different medium. School and libraries love these biography comic books because of reluctant readers are gravitating to them and reading.

This 40-page graphic novel will be chronicling this saga, “FAME: Big Time Rush: The Graphic Novel ” will explore all sides of this incredibly popular group, from their childhoods to the huge successes they are today.

"Nickelodeon has been a staple of television for so long that we forget how important it is to children as they grow up”, says writer CW Cooke. “”Big Time Rush” gives boys and girls teenage role models that they can look up to without their parents being scared for them."

“Well, I have to say the book was great fun,” says artist Erick Orlando Baez, because I have always worked on the Italian-styled layouts, which is rather strict, consisting usually of six panels per page. Having all this freedom from Bluewater has been both exciting and somewhat scary. I hope I managed to do a good job. The subject, instead, was rather descriptive, and I'm used to that, so I think I got into it quickly enough.”

Join Bluewater Productions as we examine the amazing journey of “Big Time Rush” and how they became one of the ultimate American phenomenons.

Also in stores from the “FAME” biography comic book series is Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Beyonce.

To pre-order the "FAME: Big Time Rush: The Graphic Novel” go to your local comic book shop, Barnes & Noble and amazon.com. To Pre-order it on Amazon click here: http://amzn.to/m5TxsB


About Bluewater Productions
Bluewater Productions Inc. is one of the top independent production studios of comic books, young adult books and graphic novels. Its extensive catalog of titles includes the bestsellers “10th Muse” and “The Legend of Isis” ”Bluewater publishes comic books in partnership with entertainment icon William Shatner (“TekWar Chronicles”), legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen (“Wrath of the Titans,” “Sinbad: Rogue of Mars,” “Jason and the Argonauts,” et al) and celebrated actor Vincent Price (“Vincent Price Presents”), Additionally, Bluewater publishes a highly successful line of biographical comics under the titles “Female Force” and “Political Power.”

Bluewater aims to unite cutting-edge art and engaging stories produced by its stable of the publishing industry's top artists and writers.

For more information, visit http://www.bluewaterprod.com/.

Fantagraphics Books to Publish Paul Nelson Bio

Music Critic Paul Nelson Finally Gets His Due

MARCH 31, 2011, SEATTLE, WA—Fantagraphics is proud to announce Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson. Author Kevin Avery spent four years researching and writing this unique anthology-biography. This book compiles Nelson’s best works and also provides a vivid account of his life.

In the ’60s, Paul Nelson pioneered rock & roll criticism with a first-person style of writing later coined “New Journalism.” During a five-year detour at Mercury Records, he signed the New York Dolls to their first recording contract, and then settled back down to music criticism at Rolling Stone. Through his writing, Nelson championed the early careers of artists like Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Rod Stewart, Neil Young, Warren Zevon, The Sex Pistols, and The Ramones.

But in 1982, he walked away from it all. By the time Nelson died in his New York City apartment in 2006, everything he’d written had been relegated to back issues of old music magazines.

“My original idea for this book was simply to anthologize Paul Nelson’s best work so that today’s readers could discover, as I had in my youth, his elegant and brilliant writings,” explains author Kevin Avery. “But I soon realized that, in doing these pieces, Paul was ultimately telling his own story. And his story was so damn compelling it was impossible for me not to write about it.

American journalist, biographer, and poet Nick Tosches wrote the foreword to this landmark work of cultural revival, which stands as a tribute to and collection of one of the unsung critical champions of popular music.

The Black Eyed Peas Get Bluewater Comics' "Fame" Treatment

BLUEWATER BRINGS THE BLACK EYED PEAS TO THE COMIC PAGES

 

The Black Eyed Peas made history in 2009 when its singles I Gotta Feeling and Boom Boom Pow held the top two spots in the Billboard Hot 100. Only 11 artists, including the Peas, have managed this feat in the Hot 100's history.

The Black Eyed Peas will make history of a different sort this February. That's when Bluewater Productions will ship its latest comic, Fame: The Black Eyed Peas to comic shops and online retailers across the country.

The Peas will become the latest artists to hit the pages of a Bluewater-produced comic. The company's Fame series, which profiles the biggest of celebrities and artists, has already featured biographies of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, David Beckham and Taylor Swift.

The Black Eyed Peas comic will trace the history of one of the country's most popular bands from its humble roots all the way to its Grammy winning successes. Along the way, readers will discover a variety of previously unknown facts about the talented musicians that make up the Peas.

“It was impossible to get away from the Black Eyed Peas in the last two years,” said Darren Davis, publisher and founder of Bluewater Productions. “This group is exactly the kind of band we want to showcase in our Fame series, one that has captured the attention of the country. This comic does a tremendous job of showcasing the band's rise, and should provide plenty of new information for even the most devoted of its fans.”

M. Zachary Sherman wrote the script for Fame: The Black Eyed Peas, while Kristopher Smith handled the pencils. Smith also contributed one of the books' two covers.

The suggested retail price (SRP) for the comic book is $3.99. To find a comic book store near you go to http://www.comicshoplocator.com/. The comic will also be on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/gbHYHu

Bluewater Productions, one of the country's leading independent comics publishers, has gained its own brand of fame for its series of biography comics, Fame, Female Force and Political Power. The company, though, also produces a line of fiction comics, including such critically acclaimed series as Insane Jane, Nanny & Hank and Styx & Stone. For more information, visit Bluewater online at http://www.bluewaterprod.com/.


About Bluewater Productions
Bluewater Productions Inc. is one of the top independent production studios of comic books, young adult books and graphic novels. Its extensive catalog of titles includes the bestsellers “10th Muse” and “The Legend of Isis” ”Bluewater publishes comic books in partnership with entertainment icon William Shatner (“TekWar Chronicles”), legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen (“Wrath of the Titans,” “Sinbad: Rogue of Mars,” “Jason and the Argonauts,” et al) and celebrated actor Vincent Price (“Vincent Price Presents”), Additionally, Bluewater publishes a highly successful line of biographical comics under the titles “Female Force” and “Political Power.”

Bluewater aims to unite cutting-edge art and engaging stories produced by its stable of the publishing industry's top artists and writers.

For more information, visit http://www.bluewaterprod.com/.

Image to Release Comic Based on Metal Band, The Kill Corps

THE KILL CORPS SENT TO HELL IN 2011

Metal Band Debuts Comic Book And Album

SoCal metal band The Kill Corps is set to unleash its powerful debut album on Virgin Records in the summer of 2011. In bloody juxtaposition, they will bring their incendiary music to comics with the release of THE KILL CORPS, a one-shot from Image Comics that will hit shelves in March 2011.

Inspired by the music of The Kill Corps, a seasoned team of comic pros is behind the book: Award-winning comics scribe JIM KRUEGER (Earth X, X-Men) pens the enthralling tale, while Eisner Award winner BEN TEMPLESMITH (CHOKER, 30 Days of Night) and Society of Illustrator Award winner DENNIS CALERO (Cowboys & Aliens, Legion of Superheroes) provide the art and cover.

Marking the first time a band and music will be unveiled within a comic, the book will see release in two formats. The 32-page version includes a download code for the band's first single, "Save Me." The expanded 48-page version includes a download code for the four-track self-titled EP ("Save Me," "Sticks and Stones," "Crash Burn Die," and "Cannibal Romance"), concept art, and bonus images from Templesmith and Calero.

The band's ferocious debut from Virgin/EMI delivers brain-crushing drumming and mind-numbing guitar riffage, providing the soundtrack to The Kill Corps' blood-soaked tales. The vicious story behind the comic is born from The Kill Corps' notorious live show experience and gut-punishing debut album. Calero adds, "The Kill Corps' music is a demon straight from hell, snuggling up against you, wanting to tell you a secret, then screaming in your ear."

THE KILL CORPS follows a team of mercenaries who unwillingly become the instruments of destruction in an evil deity's plot to dominate mankind. Transported to a war-torn Hell dimension, the team must fight their way through every brutal era in human history to gain their freedom and save humanity.

"I rarely get the opportunity to go as dark and crazy as I did on Kill Corps," explains Krueger. "If I were you, I would check this out with an extra pair of pants handy, ‘cause it'll scare the $#!+ out of you!"

THE KILL CORPS, a full-color one-shot from Image Comics, will be on shelves March 16, 2011, in two formats: a 32-page version for $2.99 that features a download code for the band's first single and a 48-page version for $5.99 that features a download code for the band's four-song EP.

The Kill Corps' single and self-titled four-song EP will also be available for purchase separately from the comic book beginning March 15, 2011, on iTunes, Amazon and all other DSPs.


Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit http://www.imagecomics.com/.

Interscope Records Announces Eminem's Relapse Version 2.0

From PR Newswire:

Eminem to Release Relapse: Refill on December 21st

SUPERSTAR HIP-HOP ARTIST RELEASES HIS CHART-TOPPING ALBUM RELAPSE WITH FIVE UNRELEASED TRACKS TO TIDE FANS OVER TILL RELAPSE 2

Multi-platinum hip-hop artist Eminem will release Relapse: Refill on December 21st, 2009, on Aftermath/Interscope Records. This re-release of Eminem's chart-topping fifth studio album includes seven bonus tracks, including the single "Forever," also featuring Drake, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne (previously found on the More Than A Game soundtrack), "Taking My Ball" (also released only with the DJ Hero video game), and five never-before-heard tracks.

"I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned," Eminem says. "Hopefully these tracks on The Refill will tide the fans over until we put out Relapse 2 next year." Eminem has been busy in the studio creating even more new material since Relapse was released. "I got back in with Dre and then a few more producers, including Just Blaze, and went in a completely different direction which made me start from scratch. The new tracks started to sound very different than the tracks I originally intended to be on Relapse 2, but I still want the other stuff to be heard."

One of the most anticipated albums of the year, the platinum-selling Relapse entered the Billboard Top 200 album chart at No. 1 in May 2009 and sold more than 618,000 domestic copies in the U.S. in its first week. Relapse is also the top selling hip-hop album of 2009. The first song to debut from the album, "Crack a Bottle," was released in February and set a first-week record for digital sales at the time, while the first official single and video, "We Made You," debuted in April. The best-selling hip-hop artist of the SoundScan era, Eminem has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide. His previous studio album, Encore, reached No. 1 and dominated the charts in late 2004. The Grammy-nominated disc was certified quadruple-platinum, generated four Top 40 Hot 100 hits, and has sold more than 11 million copies. In October 2008, Eminem published Eminem: The Way I Am, a compilation of thoughts, stories and memorabilia that entered the New York Times bestseller list at No. 11. [END]

Disney to Unveil New Mitchel Musso Music Video

Press release from Business Wire (because I'm a fan of the show, "Hannah Montana"):

Disney Channel to Premiere Mitchel Musso’s New Music Video Tuesday, September 29

—"Shout It" the Second Single from Musso’s Recording Debut, Premiered Monday, September 21 on Radio Disney—

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Disney Channel will premiere Mitchel Musso’s new music video, "Shout It,” from his self-titled debut album on Tuesday, September 29 during the 4:30 PM episode of JONAS. "Shout It” made its debut on Radio Disney on September 21.

The music video for the song features footage of Musso and his band performing live at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. Additional footage was shot on the road during Musso’s first headlining national concert tour which wrapped last week on September 24 in New Orleans. "Shout It" features vocals by brother Mason Musso (Metro Station), who’s currently on tour with Miley Cyrus, and was written by Tim Myers and Mitchel Musso.

Mitchel Musso, who plays the character "Oliver Oken" on the Emmy-nominated hit Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana” released his self-titled Walt Disney Records solo album in June which debuted at #19 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The debut single “Hey” shot to #8 on the iTunes Pop chart and was #23 overall the week the album was released; over 225,000 digital singles have been downloaded to date. “Hey” was Mitchel's fifth straight track to hit the Top 10 on Radio Disney's Top 30 chart. Mitchel currently has over 300,000 followers on Twitter and over 3,000,000 song plays on MySpace.

On September 12, Musso performed an online concert live from The Fillmore in New York with Ustream on Facebook and broke new ground by broadcasting in 16:9 HD. The event featured the concert and backstage interviews, and streamed live on Mitchel’s Facebook® Pages using the Ustream on Facebook application. The broadcast resulted in nearly 200,000 total views and 47,000 viewer hours. [END]

Mitchel Musso

Thank you, Dave Matthews

In an interview with CNN, Dave Matthews has something to say about racism and American politics. Here is the main highlight:

CNN: President Carter said he thinks that a lot of the animosity directed toward President Obama is race related.

Dave Matthews: Of course it is! I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here -- I just see it everywhere. There's a good population of people in this country that are terrified of the president only because he's black, even if they don't say it. And I think a lot of them, behind closed doors, do say it.

Maybe I'm paranoid about it, but I don't think someone who disagreed as strongly as they do with Obama -- if it was Clinton -- would have stood up and screamed at him during his speech. (Shakes his head) I don't think so.

CNN: Everything has gone to such a frenzied pitch.

Matthews: I think a lot of it has to be on the press. We give the podium to a lot of people who shouldn't have the podium. The message that's delivered the loudest and in the most entertaining way is the one that we're going to put on because that's what we want. We want ratings more than we want to deliver information. That's just where the culture's gotten.

There's no way that Walter Cronkite, as a young journalist, no way Ed Murrow would be hired to do news today. Not a chance.

CNN: Because they're too low-key? Because they're not bombastic?

Matthews: Because they're thoughtful, and they're patient, and they're tying to tell you a truly balanced story. They're trying to impart information. I don't think that's the goal [now] because it's not a good business plan.

Everyone's outraged all the time. Why are you outraged? There's war -- there's always been war, as long as most of us have been alive. There have always been people being abused, there's always been horrible things in the world. Why are we outraged? We should just be quiet and figure it out, and work it out together. ... There's no solution in Washington as long as people are shouting like that. [END]


The Dave Matthews Band is probably touring in support of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.