Dave Grohl on Current Sad State of Music Industry

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has said the current decline in music sales isn’t merely down to piracy and illegal downloading, but a lack of genuine talent as well.

In an interview with USA Today, Grohl pointed to the runaway success of Adele‘s ‘21‘, which he describes as ‘great’, as an example of what a talented artist can achieve despite the current musical climate.

“It’s the music,” said Grohl on the sales slump. “People are blown away that Adele is selling so many records. I’m not. That record is great! She’s got a beautiful voice, and people are shocked when they hear actual talent.”

“Music should be more than ad placement, more than synthesised looping of a voice that’s been Auto-Tuned and an image made to look like a superhero or supermodel.”

Grohl was also extremely enthusiastic about his own band’s prospects, declaring his belief that they are currently better live than ever before.

“We walk on stage with five instruments and no computers,” he said. “It might not sound perfect, but we’ll rip your face off, and we don’t need someone to hit ‘go’ on the computer. The band’s better than we’ve ever been. We don’t have bad shows. We kill it every night.”

Foo Fighters released ‘Wasting Light‘ earlier this year, topping the chart on both sides of the Atlantic.

Source - U.S.A. Today

Annie Lennox Not Moved By Lady Gaga

Legend and icon, Annie Lennox, sat down with Stylist.co.uk for an interview to talk about her creative collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum and finally The House Of Annie Lennox.  During that interview, a question was asked of Lennox about Stefani.  While Lennox had several nice things to say about Stefani, not all of it was positive.  This is what she had to say.

Recently, Lady Gaga was accused of copying your look with her stage persona, Jo Calderone.

Gaga makes incredible art. She’s exceptional. The parallel was obvious, but whether she was copying me or somebody else doesn’t make any difference. Women have been wearing men’s clothes for centuries. It’s a powerful thing when a woman wears something less feminine. It’s saying; you must look at me slightly differently, I’m not just going to be a sexual object for you. The only thing with Gaga is, she doesn’t move me. I see a lot of commerce in people’s lives; a lot of drive and ambition, but what I often feel is lacking is emotion. That’s what I love about Adele.

Annie has a different opinion than I.  She thinks Stefani makes art, I think she's makes pathetic attempts at art and ends up looking ridiculous, laughable, desperate and like a try hard. Maybe Annie Lennox as just being diplomatic.  Furthermore.............

So when Adele wears a very paired down look of just black...

It’s so refreshing. People are reminded what it’s about. We want to be touched. We don’t need all the fripperies and excesses. We just want her voice. The problem with Gaga is, the burnout possibilities are very high. It’s like how hard do you have to work to flog that? How hard is it to be different every single day? I wouldn’t want that kind of burden.

So Lennox also sees how Stefani is burning the candle at both ends and how she's going to burn out, if she hasn't started to already.  Lennox also sees that there is no emotion in what Stefani does.  It's not real or has any depth or meaning. It's just for show and to help fill her bottomless pit need for attention. It's all very phony and contrived and so easy to see through if you just took a closer look.

Remember what Justin Timberlake said about Stefani?  No?  Well, let me refresh your memory.

"I'd love to see her come out with another record a couple of years from now that's completely different, maybe something Tori Amos could do," says Timberlake. "If I were Lady Gaga, I'd do whatever I wanted, which it looks like she's doing. She's just plain old good. But I don't know what the future holds for her. Her sound is so big. She's got the outfits and she shocks you, but you kind of wonder how an act that big stays around forever. That's why I'm curious to see her mix it up a little. I think she'll continue to make interesting music."
 

So now we wait for the little monsters to start calling Annie Lennox a washed up old has been.  So predictable and boring.....just like Lady Gaga.  Monsters, she knows a hell of a lot more than you do or ever will.

Credit to Ms. Jules for bring this interview to my attention.  See monsters, you can give credit without stealing from someone else and claiming as your own. 

Where's a Great White Shark When You Need One?

Readers, the picture is a joke OK.  I don't wish death on her or anyone, well, except Casey Anthony but I think that's OK.  The picture is to simply display how a lot of people loathe her, sort of in the same way Madonna loathes hydrangeas, and wish she would disappear.

Lady Gaga—Annie Lennox impression doesn’t move album sales

This week, “You and I” is the 9th most requested song in Chicago, according to radio station B96. But now comes the bad news—Even after the highly-criticized performance, “Born This Way” didn’t gain a lot of traction on the Billboard Hot 200 and dropped a spot to number 14.

Program director Jared Spelling notes that Beyoncé’s album moved up from number 12 to 7, because audiences embraced her performance. “The only thing Lady Gaga gained from her Annie Lennox inspired performance is a new nickname—Lady Kinko’s. I do feel a little bit for Lady Gaga though; she is trying to throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. If she actually had musical talent, she would let the music speak for itself.”

Lady Gaga has suffered a terrible backlash after deep discounting her album for the giveaway price of 99 cents, although her followers say the 99 cent deal was all Amazon’s doing. However, many people considered it a cheap way to garner sales for a mediocre album.  

See original article by Peter Buchanan from The Examiner

‘Fan’ in Madonna hydrangea ‘scandal’ is actually a television prankster

Madonna’s ‘hydrangea’ scandal was the biggest topic of conversation in Chicago this week. Forget terrorism, the fall of public education, and violent murders! The fact that Madonna graciously accepted some hydrangea’s from a fan and then, not realizing her mic was still on, told the person next to her that she “absolutely loathes hydrangeas” is much worse according to some people.

However, it has been revealed that the so called “fan” is actually neither a fan nor a reporter. Vitalii Sediuk is actually a comedic television prankster for a Ukranian television show. He apparently knew—from previous interviews—that Madonna didn’t like hydrangeas (she is allergic to them), so that’s why he handed them to her. In fact, Mr. Sediuk followed Madonna after the press conference to see what she did with the hydrangeas and she was actually pretty nice to him.

Read original article at The Examiner

The Emmy Awards 2011

Tonight are the 2011 Emmy Awards where we find Laurieann Gibson, Stefani's art director nominated in the Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Special category for the HBO Monster Ball.  The HBO Special is also nominated in the Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special category.

Laurieann Gibson has a lengthy career as a choreographer, working on music videos for pop singers such as Katy Perry, JoJo, Brandy, Danity Kane (who?) and of course Lady Gaga. Laurieann also was the choreographer on the film Honey starring Jessica Alba.

What's amazing here is that the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences accepted the bid for the HBO Monster Ball special despite the fact that every aspect of it, every idea was methodically lifted from Truth or Dare.  What's even more amazing is Gibson was born in 1969 making her 42 years old. You do know what that means right? It means that Gibson was a young teen when Madonna first hit the scene and more then likely a fan just like most thirteen year old girls were. It also means that she was in her 20's during the 1990's when Madonna had her hits Vogue and her own special Truth or Dare.

Can you connect the dots? Gibson would know a lot about Madonna just by being alive and old enough during that time just like a 20-something during the 60's would know exactly the magnitude of the impact The Beatles had. No doubt Gibson knows how Truth or Dare was presented to the world. Fast forward to now....she is Stefani's creative director. Could she be the one even more responsible than Stefani for the extensive check list of Madonna rip offs? Maybe Stefani should fire her ass because Gibson is doing a damn good job of generating a buzz, no never mind buzz, a SIREN of "Madonna copycat" accusations aimed toward Gadonna.  Or since Stefani has been involved in music all her life and is a huge fan of Madonna (her words, not mine), she would also know the in's and out's of Madonna's career, right? Is she just as responsible?  The parallels between both careers are astonishing.

What do you think?

How To Defend Your Theft, Lack Of Originality, Ripping Off Of Others

In one of Stefani's columns for V Magazine, she subtly addresses the buffet of accusations that she steals ideas, fashion and creativity from others.

"There is no chicken or egg. It's molecular. Cells give birth to cells. To put it more bluntly, the Hussein Chalayan vessel I wore at the Grammys wasn't inspired by a chicken. It was stolen from an egg. But the transformation, the context, and the approach taken to reinterpret the meaning of birth and rebirth in terms of fame on a fucking red carpet — this is what creates the modernity of the statement. The past undergoes mitosis, becoming the originality of the future."

Here's the entire defend my theft column. 

I love how Stefani formats her column like a memo and she copies it to bullies.  Screw you Gaga.  Now people that her call her out on her theft are bullies.  Nice manipulative tactic to deflect people from your career transgressions Stefani.  It doesn't work.  If Madonna, the real Queen of Pop, can see right through your shenanigans, you can bet your life many, many others do too. You've been accused of copying this or that artist for some time now and people aren't pulling this out of their asses so put whatever spin you want on it honey if it makes you feel better.

Stefani also thinks that if she steals from underground artists, less mainstream artists like Peaches for example, that people wouldn't notice. Case in point, Peaches' tit dress. 

Artist "Peaches" and Lady Copy Cat