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Movie Trailer: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

 

AN AUDIENCE WITH "HURRICANE" GRACE JONES

[BBC, 11/27/08] 

Singer, film actress and style icon Grace Jones still cuts a commanding presence more than 30 years after she made her musical debut. In a smart Italian restaurant close to her home in south-west London, the Jamaican-born star is holding court. The meeting had been delayed by a fashionable two hours as the singer was relaxing in the spa. A luxuriant fur coat is draped over a nearby chair, while her sunglasses - it is dark - are close by. The remarkable-looking 60-year-old is recording a program for a gay radio station, making raucous jokes to the small gathering and cackling infectiously. Jones purrs some safer sex messages into the microphone with her distinctive, molasses-rich voice before dismissing the broadcasters and discussing her first album in 20 years, Hurricane. "I didn't decide to do an album - I'd decided never to do an album again. It was an accident," she explains, not before offering a forkful of carpaccio. "It's only because I love the record that I have the motivation," she adds of the rounds of publicity that have come with the new release. The one-time catwalk model and muse of Andy Warhol has developed a reputation over the years for being a troublesome diva - but hints it is because she is a perfectionist. "I never do what anyone else is doing. I could walk away from music and become a farmer or do some crochet. The worst thing in life for me is to do something I'm not happy doing." Indeed, she claims to be the only artist to make record producers Sly and Robbie record a song more than once. "I just say that I'm not coming tomorrow," she says of her method of persuasion. Jones says her new album was "a love affair with the music". To complement the new release, the singer is going on tour next year. Jones, whose 1980s hits Slave To The Rhythm and Pull Up To The Bumper have survived the test of time, admits to being a musical "loner". But she has her sights set on a collaboration with Amy Winehouse, "the only interesting new voice around". Jones is unflapped by the troubled star's woes, having suffered her own problems with addiction in the past. "Darling," she drawls, "We all have our ups and downs. She needs some advice that's for her best interests rather than someone else's. "I've been there. It's a rollercoaster life," she comments on the potential pitfalls of fame. After the conversation has ended, I am called back, so she can tell me that the birth of her son was the true highlight of her life.  Hurricane by Grace Jones is out now. Her UK tour begins on 19 January 2009 in Birmingham.   

 

"THE PRIESTS" TAKE LEAP OF FAITH WITH DEBUT ALBUM

[Reuters/Billboard, 11/23/08] 

It's not every day that a music industry executive compares a group of singing clergymen to a superstar rapper. But when he talks about the Priests, an act he recently signed to his label, Epic Records U.K. managing director Nick Raphael insists that "they're just like Jay-Z." The comparison between a trio of parish priests and one of the world's most influential hip-hop artists may not be an obvious one, but Raphael sees parallels. When Raphael was working at Northwestside Records, the label he founded with Christian Tattersfield, he signed the then-unknown Jay-Z "because we loved his work and we wanted to be cool. We weren't expecting him to become the seminal artist he now is." In April, Raphael signed three clergymen from Northern Ireland -- tenors Eugene O'Hagan and his brother Martin, plus bass-baritone David Delargy, their childhood friend -- in the belief he was facilitating a lifelong ambition of his friend, producer Mike Hedges, to make a recording of a Latin Mass. But when the trio signed its 1 million pound ($1.5 million) deal on the steps of Westminster Cathedral, the Jay-Z effect took hold. "The media suddenly went ballistic, and we realized they had the potential to be huge," Raphael says. "Here are three men who are going to remain priests, who have fantastic voices and who sing with conviction." The priests have been singing together since they were children and attended the Seminary in Belfast and the Irish College in Rome. "From a marketing perspective there are so many angles," says Mark Flaherty, New York-based senior vice president of marketing for RCA Victor, which handled the stateside release of "The Priests." "We have a built-in audience of more than 70 million Catholics in the U.S." That audience is being targeted with an album that contains such classics as "Ave Maria," "Pie Jesu" and "Panis Angelicus." It was released November 18, 2008 in more than 30 countries and is on sale in more than 300 Catholic bookstores across the U.S. Still, the Priests face a busy promotional schedule, which includes a concert at Armagh Cathedral that will air as part of the PBS December pledge drive. They'll also appear December 19 on the Eternal Word Television Network's Christmas special. EWTN claims to be the largest religious media network in the world, attracting a potential audience of more than 180 million.

 

DUO XTREME HELPS FUEL RISE OF URBAN BACHATA

[Reuters/Billboard, 11/23/08] 

Every once in a while, urban bachata duo Xtreme will dial up the fans that leave their phone numbers on the group's MySpace page. "They're always surprised," says Steve Styles (aka Steven Tejada), one half of Xtreme, adding that the fans know it's no prank call. "We get straight to the point, and they just start screaming." Xtreme's cultivation of a grassroots base has made it one of the most successful acts of the genre. Urban bachata -- which mixes the guitar-based romantic style of traditional Dominican bachata with an R&B sensibility and vocalizing -- is claiming a bigger space on the airwaves than ever before, thanks to a slew of new acts. In addition to Xtreme and urban bachata pioneers Aventura, Billboard's airplay charts this week feature Toby Love, Marcy Place, Bachata Heightz and Optimo. Xtreme's ability to build on its recent success and the efforts by other acts to achieve breakout sales will determine whether urban bachata is more than a passing fad. Xtreme's third album, "Chapter Dos," will be released November 25, 2008 on Machete/Universal Music Latin Entertainment; the single "Through That Window (Enamorado Estoy)" is No. 29 on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart. Xtreme's breakthrough second album, "Haciendo Historia," has sold 133,000 copies in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It did so on the back of three hit singles (one a duet with Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon) and visits to New York-area schools. "The key to Xtreme's appeal has been their core representation of the bilingual urban generation," says Walter Kolm, president of Machete and Universal Music Latino. "The inner-city youth recognize and associate with their style, languages and messages -- with their lifestyle in general. This is marketing through visual culture." And though Styles and Danny D (aka Mejia, Xtreme's other singer/songwriter/producer) and their fans all speak English, Styles says just a sprinkling of English in their songs is enough. "A lot of Spanish people don't like Spanglish even though they speak it," Styles says, adding that when it comes to music, "they only want to hear one language." Other urban bachata acts, among them Optimo, Leny and Unique, have yet to take off in a big way, with Optimo selling 5,000 copies of "Optimo FDL," while Leny and Unique have each sold 1,000 copies of their albums, according to SoundScan. But the genre has shown promise in Europe and on mobile. Love is on tour in Spain, Switzerland, France and Italy and has sold 229,000 ringtones, according to Nielsen RingScan. Kolm believes that the genre's appeal to second-generation U.S. Latinos and international audiences, as well as its growing digital sales, mean that "the genre is here to stay for a while."

 

SINGER ENYA EYES CONCERT STAGE AS "WINTER" ARRIVES

[Reuters/Billboard, 11/23/08] 

With her new album off to a strong start, ethereal-voiced Irish singer Enya is considering touring for the first time in her career. "And Winter Came," released November 11, 2008 on Reprise in the United States and a day earlier on Warner Bros. in the United Kingdom, debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 92,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Enya's manager/producer Nicky Ryan says the original plan was to use the six songs she recorded for a Christmas EP in 2006 alongside new recordings for a covers-based project. But things changed in the studio, and the finished product has only two traditional songs, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and "Oiche Chiuin (Silent Night)." Enya's early-career version of the latter song has proved perennially popular. "I'm a big fan of Christmas music," Enya says. "I wanted to take what I love about traditional carols and bring it into the 21st century." Enya's last album, "Amarantine," came out in 2005. Big gaps between albums don't seem to affect the singer's enduring popularity, however. Neither does the fact that she has never toured. Nielsen SoundScan has logged 25.2 million total sales for Enya since it began tracking sales in 1991. Ryan, who with his lyricist wife, Roma Ryan, has guided Enya's career since recruiting her to the band Clannad in 1980, credits her enduring popularity to that low profile. "She's not always in your face. We're not always trying to sell you something," he says. "To me, success and fame are two very different things," Enya adds, although she and Ryan both say she may tour for the first time next year. "We're definitely talking about it," she says. "I'll be promoting until February, and that's when we'll sit down and think, 'What's next?'" But even if she does take that leap to the concert stage, not much else about her approach to music will change. "For some artists, after 10 years of success, they finally get to make the album they've always wanted to do," Enya says. "But I was able to say that about my first album. I'm very aware that I break all the rules."

 

NICKELBACK'S "DARK HORSE"

[BBC, 11/21/08] 

Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake are seated in a recording studio in Vancouver, Canada, where their latest album, Dark Horse , is being mixed after five months of work. "Every year we say we are not going to make an album in summer," Kroeger, the lead singer, says wistfully. "Every year our friends are calling up and saying 'come to the lake', and we're like 'man, are you trying to kill me?'" "And what do we do?" adds Peake, "we record this album in summer too." You could find sympathy for the band - unless you know that their history of spending summers cooped up in a studio has so far netted them 30 million album sales worldwide. Nickelback, who come from Vancouver, have been together since 1995. As well as Chad Kroeger and Peake, the current line-up includes another Kroeger brother, Mike, and drummer Daniel Adair. BBC News has had an exclusive play of "Dark Horse", their sixth album, produced by Mutt Lange. The South African has previously worked with Def Leppard, Bryan Adams, AC/DC and his estranged wife Shania Twain, and has a reputation for everything he touches turning to platinum. The first single, Gotta Be Somebody, is a traditional Nickelback up-tempo ballad, but much of the album is surprisingly heavy and even in the vein of 80s 'hair metal'. The opening track, Something In Your Mouth starts off: "Gotta meet the hottie with the million dollar body..." Perhaps the audience is expecting something heavier from Nickelback after the success of their last single, Rockstar, off their 2005 album, All the Right Reasons.  Rockstar is one of the biggest-selling UK singles of 2008 - despite being released at the end of last year. It never reached number one, but thanks to downloads and featuring in a TV furniture advert, it spent more than 35 weeks on the chart. It finally made them household names in the U.K - until now, their biggest hit was 2002's How You Remind Me. Rockstar's success was in no small measure thanks to the video, featuring Kid Rock, Gene Simmons and ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, but also members of the public mouthing lines like, "Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars, live in hilltop houses and drive fifteen cars". The band is scheduled to tour the U.K in May 2009, after signing a deal with events company Live Nation. 

 

IT'S THE SEASON OF BEYONCE AND "SASHA FIERCE"

[AP, 11/20/08] 

Wrapping up with a new album and two movies on the horizon, it appears the Season of Beyonce has begun. Then again, one could argue that it's always Beyonce season. Two years ago, it was all about the release of her second CD, "B'Day" and her starring role in the movie "Dreamgirls." Last year, her "Irreplaceable" was up for a top Grammy and she was on a world tour. And this year, besides a high-profile Grammy performance with Tina Turner, her hush-hush marriage to Jay-Z and appearances on hit remixes with Justin Timberlake and Usher generated headlines. Though it may have been hard to tell, the former Destiny's Child actually did take a yearlong hiatus from recording music. "I think I did need to take a break. I honestly did," she says, sitting on a sleek chair in an even sleeker hotel room during a recent interview. Of course, Beyonce being Beyonce, her hiatus wasn't a complete vacation: She spent part of that "break" filming her upcoming movie, "Cadillac Records," in which she peels off the glamour to play R&B great Etta James during her drug-addled years. The movie, which also stars Oscar-winner Adrian Brody and Jeffrey Wright of which Beyonce executive produced, documents the heyday of the Chess R&B label. Beyonce says not only did the role propel an acting breakthrough, it provided a musical one, too. "I felt like after I played Etta James, and I sang these beautiful, emotional, deep, honest songs, I really learned a lot about myself. And I wanted to make classic music ... to grow and make that transition into legendary," she says. The 27 year old bid at musical immortality comes this week with the release of "I Am... Sasha Fierce," her third solo CD, something of a departure from the frenetic funk of her previous two multiplatinum albums, "Dangerously in Love" and "B'Day." While the new album certainly has its share of club anthems — one of its first singles is the bouncy jam "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" — it is a double-CD with two personalities. The upbeat side is dubbed "Sasha Fierce" (the namesake of her onstage, divalicious alter ego); the "I Am ..." portion is a ballad-centric pop album that features Beyonce at what her father and manager, Matthew Knowles, calls her most revealing. Beyonce also takes a dramatic turn in the upcoming thriller "Obsessed," due out next year. "I just wanted to do things that makes people feel, make people think. Even with the uptempos, with 'Sasha Fierce,' I wanted it to be simple and classic."      

 

SINGER-SONGWRITER SEAL "KISS FROM A ROSE"

[BBC, 11/11/08] 

Wrapping up one interview, singer-songwriter Seal is told he has four more to do. "No, I do not," he says irritably. He has been working all day publicizing his new album Soul, an album of classic Motown covers, and he has clearly had enough. Despite this, though, he willingly sits down with a glass of white wine to talk about fame and his family. "We're not left alone," the 45-year-old, who now lives in Los Angeles, admits. "The paparazzi is a problem in America." He and supermodel Heidi Klum, whom he married in 2005, have become a high-profile couple. "They poke cameras in my children's faces - my children, who have got nothing to do with our celebrity status," he says. "I've been in a situation where I would have liked nothing more than to ram my foot down one of their throats because of the horrible, racist things they say to my wife and the things they do to our children. "You have to understand I'm a father and a husband. I don't care who you are." The Grammy-winning artist, known for hits such as Crazy, Kiss from a Rose and Killer, admits his career comes quite low on his list of priorities. "I always talk about the relationship with my wife in terms of a pyramid," he explains. "At the top of the pyramid, for me as far as I'm concerned, is Heidi. She is my best friend. "Second are the children. It doesn't mean we love them any less, it means my wife is my first priority. "Third is health, and the fourth priority is career." Seal clearly takes his role of being a husband and a father very seriously. "You can make mistakes in your career, I've made quite a few of them, but you cannot make mistakes in your marriage, or indeed in parenting," he says. "Children do not tolerate mistakes." So what's the secret to a successful marriage in the world of entertainment? "You have to know who you are, know who your partner is and understand what your partner means to you." In 2010 Seal will have been in the music business for 20 years, having released the track Killer with dance producer Adamski in 1990. The single, which sat at number one for four weeks, was the song that pushed the singer into the celebrity spotlight. He insists he has no plans to mark the occasion, though does offer a few insights into why he has managed to sustain such a successful career. "I've always walked to the beat of my own drum," he says. "I've always endeavoured to do things that were different and challenging." Because of this, Seal says he is not surprised he has withstood the test of time. "

 

BRAD PAISLEY THE GUITARIST GETS HIS MOMENT

[AP, 11/10/08] 

At a recent concert, Brad Paisley closed his show with a song that most of his fans had never heard and probably never will on country radio. B.B. King flashed onto a giant screen behind him and the two began trading guitar licks on the blues workout "Let the Good Times Roll." The solos were loose and raw and the interaction between the men so flawless that it felt like King was in the house. As the band played a final coda, Paisley slapped a throng of hands thrust up from the crowd, unstrapped his Telecaster and walked off through a cloud of dry ice smoke. It was a rock star moment, but it underscored his love for the instrument that's been like an appendage to his slight frame since he was 8. The song with King is from Paisley's new album out this week, "Play," a collection of guitar-heavy tunes and instrumentals that has to be one of the most unusual releases by a top-of-his-game hitmaker. When Paisley isn't jamming on the disc with guitar greats like King, Albert Lee and James Burton, he's paying homage to a host of others from Les Paul to Eric Johnson.  "If there's any part of my image or my artistry that goes unnoticed at this point, it may be the guitar-playing side," he said from the living room of his century old farm house, which is squeezed between two horse pastures just south of Nashville. "I've had people as recently as last weekend say, 'I had no idea that you could play guitar like that.' And I'm thinking that the quickest way to say that is to do a largely instrumental project. "In a nutshell you're trying to get as many people as possible to understand you either lyrically as a writer, or vocally, or guitar-wise. You want them to know where you're coming from and relate and enjoy it." Paisley, 36, has always included an instrumental track on his albums, and even his mainstream hits like "Alcohol" and "Online" have dazzling string runs. But "Play" is different. The guitar is front and center on most of the 15 tracks that span country, rock, jazz, blues, gospel and bluegrass. Only five songs have vocals — this from a guy who's been awarded male vocalist of the year by the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music. [Read the full story here!]

 

RACHELLE LEFEVRE DWELLS INTO THE WORLD OF VAMPIRES WITH "TWILIGHT"

[CBC, 11/3/08] 

Rachelle Lefèvre, a Montreal-born actress who has a key role in the new movie Twilight, has a thing for vampires. She dates that fascination for the undead to her 14th year, when she read Bram Stoker's Dracula while on a trip to Greece. "When I finished it, I remember turning the page, flipping over the book and being like, 'No, it can't be over. I can't be done with that world. I have to go back.' And I turned the book right around, opened it up and started reading again," Lefèvre said in an interview with CBC's Q cultural affairs show. The young actress plays Victoria, a vampire well known to readers of the "Twilight" series of young adult books by Stephanie Meyer. The film version, directed by Catherine Hardwicke, is hotly anticipated — an official trailer for the film drew 3.5 million hits in its first week on the internet. That has brought unprecedented attention for the 29-year-old actress, who studied at McGill University before being lured away by acting. She previously appeared in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and The River King before landing roles as Dana Strickland on Boston Legal and Marina in Swing Town. But "Twilight", which features a love story between teenaged Bella and a vampire, has meant a new level of attention. "I've never been a part of anything this big before," Lefèvre said. "I've been really lucky and gotten to be on some great network TV shows and done some great indie film, but in terms of a studio film that's this highly anticipated with a built-in fan base, every experience that goes with it is brand new." Lefèvre, who lives in Los Angeles, loved playing Victoria. "There's a lot of roles for women that involve being someone's girlfriend or being in a male-centred story line and I loved the idea of playing a woman who didn't have to answer to any of that, even if I had to be a vampire to do it," she said. Victoria is a renegade vampire who attempts to kill Bella, the human heroine of "Twilight". "What I love about this book is that it's not just a vampire story, it's a vampire human love story. It raises the question of what is the thing you're most passionate about, and what would you do and what would you give up to get it. And I fully think that's something everyone can relate to." Twilight will be released Nov. 21, 2008.

 

NEIL YOUNG "CHROME DREAMS II"

[BBC, 11/3/08] 

Each production comes with its own challenges. With this film the big issue was simple but daunting: getting to Neil Young. The Canadian songsmith has a reputation for being fiercely private; he seldom appears on camera and almost never looks back. The unlikely starting point for this project was New York's Upper East Side. It was October, 2007 and Young was doing a small handful of interviews for his new album, Chrome Dreams II, at a swanky hotel. My boss and executive producer, Mark Cooper, had snagged an afternoon on camera in Neil's diary. But would he be prepared to discuss anything other than his latest project? We found him to be in an expansive and generous mood, happy to talk about everything from his formative years in Winnipeg to his acquaintance with Charles Manson. "He wasn't what you call a songwriter he was more like a song spewer, but he got turned down by record companies," Young said of the mass murderer. "I told Mo Ostin at Reprise that this guy's good, just a little out of control. But when he got turned down that really annoyed him." Turning his famously intense stare to camera Neil deadpanned, "he didn't take rejection well". It was an amazing start, but now we wanted more. Time passed, other programs were made, and it wasn't until spring 2008 that I was properly able to turn my attention to the project. I had a production team and a schedule - the only thing I needed was Neil. As I tried to get more time with him, assistant producer Rachel Williams lined up loads of interesting and original stuff to film. However, without more from the man himself I was unwilling to push go. The project became a balancing act as, with the help of production executive Stephania Minici, we constantly rejigged the schedule, holding out for our star. In the meantime we all kept busy. Archivist Jeannie Clark sourced some great footage, including film of Neil on his ranch, whilst we interviewed Thom Yorke, Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle. Although these interviews don't feature in the film, they and can be seen at www.bbc.co.uk/neilyoung, along with other exclusive content. Finally, the call we had been waiting for came through. Arrangements were made and off we dashed to California. The omens looked good as we filmed with key collaborators Crosby, Stills and Nash in Los Angeles. Then, suddenly, it was all off again. Things had changed, and our filming date was no longer good… but there was the possibility of arranging something the following week. Undaunted, we arranged a whirlwind trip to Winnipeg, Neil's childhood home. Slap bang in the middle of Canada, Winnipeg is a long way from LA. Surrounded by endless prairieland, it has an edge of the world feel. Travelling so extensively allowed me to indulge my passion for 8mm film and gave cameraman Ric Clark the chance to film some gorgeous landscapes - when he wasn't clocking up thousands of miles behind the wheel. On a gruelling turnaround, we filmed with members of Young's first band, The Squires, before heading back to San Francisco with Neil in our sights. This time it happened, and it was well worth the wait. Neil turned up with an entourage of one - Carl, his labradoodle. On home territory, Young was gregarious and forthcoming. Discussing his most famous album, Harvest, Neil suddenly bristled with intensity: "'Something to avoid repeating' is how I looked at it. "I could probably make another one but I'd probably hate myself for it. So I followed it up by making a record nobody wanted. People thought I had failed, but I succeeded". Intoning each word deliberately, he poked his vitamin water at me: "I wasn't dragged down by the success". The more time we spent filming, the more apparent it became just how driven the Harvest Moon singer is. "I only care about the music [long stare]. It's sad. Sometimes people are damaged by it, but if people understand me, they can understand what that is - that, when the music is finished with me, I'll be back... If they can wait for me." When we finally cut the program together, I was ecstatic. I had a coup; this was world exclusive material. I knew we had a film now and couldn't wait to put it together. After another 'short' diversion, this time to Arizona to talk to Nils Lofgren, we drove 400 miles to Los Angeles and jumped straight on to a 10-hour overnight flight back to London. The next six weeks I spent cutting the material with editor Bradley Richards who gave it the benefit of an aesthete's eye whilst Neil's production company supplied us with some fantastic performance footage - some of it unseen. The overall result is a portrait of an artist in his own words. It is about Neil's relentless pursuit of musical inspiration to the exclusion of everything and everybody else. As Neil says, sometimes people are damaged by his refusal to compromise, but I think he emerges nobler for his unswerving honesty.

 

DIDO CHILLS OUT IN CALIFORNIA

[BBC, 10/28/08] 

In the past few years, Dido has made California her second home. Dressed casually in jeans and looking relaxed, she met me at a ramshackle recording studio in the heart of Hollywood. Returning from a shopping trip to a local health food store, the British singer seemed to be at ease in the land of make-believe. In Los Angeles she has developed new collaborations, learned a few instruments and even attended university to study music. But Dido has not changed. She is still dreamy, melancholy and as romantic as ever. If anything, California has made her even more reflective. The cover to the new album features an astronaut floating in space. Dido says the image inspired the CD's title, Safe Trip Home. "The picture on the front of the album is one of my favourite pictures and has been for quite a few years," she explains. "I often just stare at it and imagine what it would be like to just be floating free in space - there wasn't too much rational thought that went into it, it was more of a sort of emotional thing." After completing her second album Dido spent a couple of years touring. Dido, who attended London's Guildhall School of Music from the age of six, became a star after Eminem sampled her song Thank You on his hit Stan in 2000. She says her new single, Don't Believe in Love, is fast becoming one of the "more misunderstood" songs of her career. The song appears to be about a heartless woman's desire for her man to get up and go home before she awakes after a night of passion. "I want it to mean whatever anyone wants it to mean," she said. The lyrics include: "I wanna go to bed with arms around me but wake up on my own... pretend that I'm sleeping until you go home." The track is, according to Dido, "fast turning into one of the more misunderstood songs of my career." Dido opens up, to a point, about the mournful track, Grafton Street, which features the drumming talents of Mick Fleetwood and was co-written by Brian Eno. The song is a tribute to Dido's late father. "I enjoyed playing the recorder on it because it's my childhood instrument so it really reminded me of when we were kids. Dad would be singing all these fantastic songs to us, all his Irish songs and stuff. I just listen to that song and I remember him and it's great." Safe Journey Home features Dido, not only on vocals, but a variety of instruments. The album was recorded at the home of Jon Brion, Dido's co-producer. Safe Trip Home will drop in stores on 17 November 2008.

 

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