ENTERTAINMENT

< 12/01/2008

CD review: Kanye West's hurting, and so are our ears

Def Jam Records

Kanye West's latest CD, 808s & Heartbreak

Which is worse: A boasting Kanye or a bitter Kanye? The former, even with the annoying braggadocio, sounds downright delightful after listening to Mr. West's new CD, 808s & Heartbreak. This is lovelorn Kanye at his whiniest. The inspiration for the disc is his broken relationship with designer Alexis Phifer.
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11/25/2008

Ricardo Arjona pours his heart into songs about human frailties
Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona never lacks for poetic, panoramic and personal ideas that later turn into piercing tunes. His acclaimed body of work – 14 CDs strong – speaks for itself, especially such powerful albums as 2002's Santo Pecado and 2005's Adentro .

11/24/2008

Review: Axl Rose's rock epic 'Chinese Democracy' debuts

FILE

The most telling flaw about the long-delayed Guns N' Roses CD, Chinese Democracy, is the muted vocal presence frontman Axl Rose has on each song. Track after track of this ambitious, 71-plus-minute opus finds Mr. Rose, a man with an ego the size of Europe, mixed into the background as if he were a guest singer.
Blog: Rate the CD.

11/20/2008

Beyoncé only the latest pop star to adopt an alter ego

Courtesy

Beyoncé

So Beyoncé's new two-CD studio effort, I Am...Sasha Fierce, features one disc of ballads aimed to capture her life now, particularly as Mrs. Jay-Z. The other disc, starring her "Sasha Fierce" persona, is all about sassed-up R&B tracks aimed at the dance floor. Houston's Beyoncé Knowles is but the latest example of artists compelled to exercise their star power by creating alter egos. With precious few exceptions, this business of creating another persona is ripe for ridicule.

11/14/2008

Julieta Venegas: Songs, not style, are important

AFP/Getty Images

Julieta Venegas

Julieta Venegas found mainstream success in Latin pop without compromising her muse or losing any of her alternative rocker credibility. In fact, the 37-year-old singer-songwriter embellished her underground-rock-en español style with each subsequent CD. She reached a happy medium with 2003's Latin Grammy Award-winning Sí and its Latin Grammy and Grammy-winning follow-up, 2006's Limon y Sal.

11/13/2008

Sariñana, Latin Grammys nominee, is mature beyond her years

Warner Music

Ximena Sariñana

Mexico's Ximena Sariñana could pass for a teenager, even in the matronly garb on the cover of her debut CD, Mediocre. At 23, she looks decidedly diminutive, almost childlike. But, boy, her songwriting underscores her artistic maturity. Mediocreis a critical success that is slowly finding a stateside audience thanks to her three Latin Grammy Awards nominations.
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Blog: Playlist
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11/12/2008

Mario Tarradell: Predicting the winners at the Country Music Association Awards

Associated Press

Sugarland: Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles

Are you a gambler? Are you a country music fan? Either way, you might be trying to get odds on the victory chances of the prime contenders in the Country Music Association Awards. Find out tonight if you made the right bet. Meanwhile, here are totally unscientific predictions on how many trophies the artists with the most nominations will take home.
Blog: Tell us your picks.
TV listings: Find your favorite shows

11/06/2008

Musician Ann Hampton Callaway weaves many influences into her style

Bill Westmoreland

Ann Hampton Callaway

Ann Hampton Callaway speaks in breathless tones. Not because she's in a hurry to finish a sentence but because she's so passionate about music, performing and songwriting that she can't contain her enthusiasm. Her latest CD, 2006's Blues in the Night, is jazz, big band, torch songs, pop standards, originals and musical theater comedy all rolled into one. In other words, it's typical Ann Hampton Callaway.

11/04/2008

Latin group Volumen Cero taps into '80s pop rock sound

3 Collective

Volumen Cero are (left to right) Luis Tamblay, Marthin Chan and Josh Sonntag.

The three members of Los Angeles-based Latin band Volumen Cero do not apologize for, nor do they rationalize, their '80s-influenced sound. Even a cursory listen to I Can See the Brite Spot, the group's just-released fourth studio album, immediately unleashes a synthesized, head-spinning blend of pop, rock and dance beats that will remind you of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, New Order, the Cure and even the Clash. None of that is by accident.

10/25/2008

R.E.M. mixes melodies and messages in Friday's performance
Michael Stipe and his R.E.M. mates kept the room rocking Friday night during a two-hour performance at Nokia Theatre. The venerable band, known for its jangly, organic and soaring rock sound, offered several tracks from its latest CD, Accelerate, and the big hits.

10/21/2008

Musician Eric Hutchinson built his own buzz after label dropped him

Courtesy

Eric Hutchinson blends pop, R& B and a touch of folk.

Eric Hutchinson serves as proof that the makings of a long music career begin with raw talent and incessant touring, not instant American Idol fame. The Washington, D.C., native wrote every song on his impressive 2007 full-length debut CD, Sounds Like This. He made the disc without big-label money and hit the road to promote it. Within a month of its release he had built enough buzz to have Warner Bros. Records, which had signed and then dropped him, come calling again. The label re-released the disc sans changes.

10/20/2008

For New Kids on the Block, this is the right time for a comeback

Tim Gruber/DMN

The New Kids on the Block performed at American Airlines Center on Sunday.

My ears are still ringing. The volume of screams from adoring fans Sunday night during the nearly sold-out New Kids on the Block concert at American Airlines Center was deafening. One woman sitting in front of me kept fingers in her ears through much of the two-hour show even as she clutched her digital camera. But the reunion concert from Boston's one-time humongous boy band was a total blast.
Video: Fans tell why they love New Kids on the Block
Blog: Were you at the show or in our video? Tell us.

10/17/2008

Boyfriend Tony was a bigger star than Jessica Simpson at State Fair concert
Was it a Jessica Simpson show or catch a glimpse of Tony Romo hour?

10/20/2008

Boyfriend Tony was a bigger star than Jessica Simpson at State Fair concert
Was it a Jessica Simpson show or catch-a-glimpse-of-Tony Romo hour?

10/14/2008

Country singer John Michael Montgomery returns with 'Time Flies'

Scott Reed

John Michael Montgomery

The early '90s glory days of John Michael Montgomery as a multimillion-selling country artist with incessant radio airplay are gone. He won't give up. The 43-year-old, who still lives on his Kentucky farm, "took the bull by the horns," as he says, and started a label, Stringtown Records. He then recorded Time Flies, the most mature album of his career.
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10/08/2008

Darius Rucker breaks racial barrier with No. 1 country single

Russ Harrington

Country singer-songwriter Darius Rucker

Darius Rucker can play it down all he wants, but his breakthrough as a country artist makes him historic. Mr. Rucker, best known as the lead vocalist of pop group Hootie & the Blowfish, is officially the first commercially successful black country singer since Charley Pride emerged in 1966. That's an astounding 42-year span.
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