Having fun with Feist
NEW YORK - Feist's musical palette contains many emotional colours, but there's something to be said for joy.
More than anything, a playful spirit explains why this was the Canadian singer-songwriter's breakout year - that, and a well-timed iPod commercial. She's up for four Grammy Awards at the Feb. 10 ceremony, including best new artist.
One of Feist's videos shows her flying through the air and literally being pulled back to Earth by someone suspicious of her fun. Another depicts her dancing through fireworks in what one onlooker at the production told her "looks like what falling in love feels like."
Her clip for the hit "1234" became so well-known that it sparked a "MadTV" parody. She joins dozens of extras in a goofy, colourful dance production in a warehouse.
"The videos are there to make the songs visible, to manifest something audible in a visible way," she said. "For me, what better way to do that for a song that's really child-like and joyful than to dance around in a blue-sparkled pantsuit?"
Feist's disc "The Reminder" was nominated for a Grammy for best pop album and she's looking forward to bringing the friends who helped her make it together at the Grammys for a night of dressing up and having fun.
Hitching onto the express train called success is a surreal experience, which she describes as feeling like she's crawled into the television and magazines - the places she used to hear about other people.
"It's the kind of thing I'll have perspective on in about 20 years: 2007, that was the year it shifted," she said. "Of course, it's exciting, if only because I constantly have to answer the question 'isn't this exciting?' - even to my family and friends."
Leslie Feist, who uses only her last name professionally, is one of those musicians for whom a best "new" artist nod is a chuckle. She's approaching her 32nd birthday and has been singing on stages for half her life. Feist grew up in Calgary and spent her teen-age years as the lead howler for a hardcore punk band.
One memory that sticks in her mind about those voice-grinding days is what a sound man for her band told her one day:
"He said, 'What you're doing is great - I mix it every night so I know - but a song is something you can sing in the shower when there's nothing else there, and you should think about that.'
"I was 17, going 'Whatever!' " she recalled. "But it's true. As the years pass, I think about that."
Two years later, her voice was shredded. She bused across country to see a doctor in Toronto who specialized in treating music-related injuries and a friend gave her tapes of melodic indie artists like P.J. Harvey, Portishead and Luna. She saw her musical future.
Feist settled in Toronto, her belongings scattered among friends in Calgary and left for good. After some "dark, dark times" selling jeans in the basement of a mall, Feist began writing songs and became a part of the city's music scene.
"The Reminder" was recorded nearly two years ago in a house outside of Paris. Although there was a recording studio in the basement, the musicians wired things to work upstairs, opening windows to let spring breezes drift in.
That airiness is almost audible; the music is notable for a sense of space that allows the stray banjo or glockenspiel to slip in and delight.
There were a few battles with her strong-willed musicians, but everyone understood it was Feist's album and she was the ultimate arbiter.
At the end, it was her first record that she felt totally content with.
"I felt like a golden peace," she said. "I was free of any responsibility for whether it was a success or not, because it was already a success in my mind. I had attained freedom before I even tossed the dice to see what the world would think."
As is often the case in those circumstances, the world loved it.
The iPod commercial played an important role in exposing her music to casual fans. There is so much music on commercials these days, and fewer opportunities to reach large audiences, that advertisements are almost the modern-day "American Bandstand."
Feist said Apple "did it right," making an artful commercial that was respectful to the song.
With success comes graduation into playing larger venues. Before she was booked to play in some, Feist said she had never seen a concert in a theatre.
After a few shows, she said she was overwhelmed by the visual space available. She's always been fascinated by puppetry, and hired Clea Minaker to make a shadow puppet show that unfolds on screens behind Feist as she sings.
She'll spend much of the next year touring. Booking an upcoming European tour, she told management to go some places she hadn't gone before.
"I said, you know what, why don't you book Italy?" she said. "And as long as we're going to be in Italy, can you book two days off in Rome?"
Now THAT sounds like fun!
New CD Releases, February 5: Jack Johnson, Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow
Jack Johnson "Sleep Through the Static"
The Hawaii-born singer/songwriter surfs back into action with the release of his fourth solo disc, "Sleep Through the Static." Johnson's last solo disc was 2005's "In Between Dreams," though he was also a major contributing force behind 2006's chart-topping "Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George."
"Sleep Through the Static" was produced by JP Plunier, who also helmed Johnson's 2001 debut, "Brushfire Fairytales." The album features the singer's longtime collaborators: drummer Adam Topol, bassist Merlo Podlewski and keyboardist Zach Gill.
As far as the concert front goes, the 32-year-old Johnson is currently scheduled to support "Sleep Through the Static" with a headlining set on the opening night (4/25) of Southern California's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Lenny Kravitz "It is Time for a Love Revolution"
If, indeed, "It is Tme for a Love Revolution," then we can think of no one better suited to lead the charge than Lenny "Let Love Rule" Kravitz.
Kravitz, a man seemingly born to be a rock star, is back with his eighth album, "It is Time for a Love Revolution," which follows 2004's "Baptism." The 14-track set was produced by the artist himself and features the singles "Bring It On" and "I'll Be Waiting."
Having already performed some Stateside dates this year, Kravitz will next take to Canadian soil for shows in March, beginning with a March 10 gig in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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Sheryl Crow "Detours"
The multi-platinum vocalist returns with her sixth studio album. "Detours" was produced by Bill Bottrell, who previously worked with Crow on her Grammy-winning 1993 debut, "Tuesday Night Music Club."
The 45-year-old Missouri native, known for such singles as "If It Makes You Happy" and "All I Wanna Do," has a few dates lined up in support of "Detours." The current itinerary includes a two-night stand (Feb. 6-7) at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, as well a late-April appearance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
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k.d. lang "Watershed"
The supremely talented vocalist, born Kathryn Dawn Lang, delivers 11 new original songs on "Watershed." The 46-year-old Canadian also makes her debut as a producer on this set. "Watershed" follows 2004's "Hymns of the 49th Parallel."
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Hot Chip "Made in the Dark"
The British electro-pop heroes are ready to unveil "Made in the Dark," the band's third studio release and the follow-up to 2006's "The Warning." "Made in the Dark" is being released as a CD/DVD set, which features the studio album plus video footage taken from the band's live performances.
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More new releases:
Adele, "19" (XL)
Avantasia, "The Scarecrow" (Nuclear Blast)
Betty Buckley, "Quintessence" (Sony)
Taylor Dayne, "Satisfied" (Adrenaline)
Hanzel und Gretyl, "2012: Zwanzig Zwolf" (Metropolis)
Paul Hardcastle, "Hardcastle 5" (Trippin and Rhythm)
Josh Kelley, "Special Company" (DNK)
Fernando Lima, "Pasion"
Bob Mould, "District Line" (Anti)
Nada Surf, "Lucky" (Barsuk)
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, "Calibration (is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)" (N2o)
Jill Scott, "Live in Paris" (Hidden Beach)
Soundtracks and scores:
"Love in the Time of Cholera" (New Line)
"Rambo" (Lions Gate)
'General Hospital' actress Kepler dies
PORTLAND, Ore. - Actress Shell Kepler, who for years played the gossipy nurse Amy Vining on the TV soap opera "General Hospital," has died. She was 49.
Kepler died Friday at Oregon Health & Science University hospital, which did not give the cause of death.
Kepler's busybody character on "General Hospital" was a fan favorite and enjoyed a long run, 1979-2002.
In addition to her run on "General Hospital," she was also in a 1982 Joan Collins film, "Homework," and a couple of episodes of the situation comedy "Three's Company."
On the side, she was a businesswoman, marketing clothing on the former Home Shopping Club. She said in a 1994 Associated Press interview that her "Lacy Afternoon" collection had sales topping $20 million that year alone.
Kepler was born in Ohio and the family moved to California when she was 10. She recalled in 1994 that she didn't yet have a driver's license when she began trying out for film roles.
"I managed to get my girlfriends to drive me to auditions because I wasn't old enough to drive. I was a rather ambitious kid," she said.
She moved to Portland after her TV career and became involved in charity fundraising.
Giants-Patriots most-watched Super Bowl
NEW YORK - The New York Giants' thrilling win over New England was the most-watched Super Bowl ever with 97.5 million viewers, a total that is second only to the "M-A-S-H" finale audience, Nielsen Media Research said Monday.
The game eclipsed the previous Super Bowl record of 94.08 million, set when Dallas defeated Pittsburgh in 1996. The final "M-A-S-H" episode, which drew 106 million viewers in 1983, is the only other show in American broadcast history watched by more people.
Sunday's game had almost all the ingredients Fox could have hoped for: a tight contest with an exciting finish involving a team that was attempting to make history as the NFL's first unbeaten team since 1972.
But the Giants ended New England's bid for perfection, 17-14. Throughout the game, the teams were never separated by more than a touchdown.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who was to appear on David Letterman's "Late Show" on Monday, also won bragging rights over his brother: Last year's win by Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts was seen by 93.2 million people, now the third most popular Super Bowl.
Fox, a division of News Corp., charged $2.7 million for 30 seconds of advertising time on the game.
An eye-popping 81 percent of all TV sets on in the Boston area Sunday were tuned in to the game. In New York, the audience share was 67 percent.
The audience peaked between 9:30 and 10 p.m. ET — the fourth quarter — with 105.7 million people watching, Nielsen said.
There were signs even before gametime that Fox could be headed for a record. The opportunity for a team to make history with football's first 19-0 record was a powerful draw. The Giants and Patriots also had a tight contest in late December that drew strong ratings.
The Giants' underdog run had also captivated the nation's largest media market, making up for the only potential weakness in the event as a drawing card: the lack of geographical diversity in the competing teams.
There were past Super Bowl games with higher ratings, topped by the 1982 game between San Francisco and Cincinnati (49.1 rating, 73 share). That indicates that a larger percentage of homes with televisions were watching the game. But since the American population has increased, along with the number of people with TVs, the actual number of people watching this year was higher.
The Giants-Patriots game's actual rating (43.3 rating, 65 share) was the highest for any Super Bowl since 1997. That means 43 percent of the nation's TV sets were tuned in to the game, and 65 percent of the TV sets that were turned on were watching football.
Stallone back in action with 2-film deal
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Boxoffice comeback champ Sylvester Stallone has inked a lucrative deal to direct and star in two action films with "Rambo" producers Danny Dimbort,
Several scripts are being considered for follow-ups to his surprise hit sequels to "First Blood" and "Rocky." With Nu Image/Millennium's new Writers Guild of America interim deal speeding up the process, the first script is expected to be ready by the fall, with production set to begin shortly thereafter.
"The past year and a half of working with Avi, his partners Danny and Trevor and his film family has been nothing but a high point for me and my career and an extremely rewarding experience," Stallone said. "Avi is a real gentleman and a man of his word."
Stallone will produce the films with Kevin King-Templeton and Lerner. Dimbort, Short and Boaz Davidson will serve as executive producers.
It's a deal few would have expected just a few years ago, when Stallone followed up his role in "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over" with a failed network boxing reality TV series, "The Contender." But in 2006, Stallone wrote, directed and starred in "Rocky Balboa," the sixth "Rocky" film, 16 years after the previous sequel in the franchise. The MGM release grossed $70 million on an estimated $24 million budget.
The second part of Stallone's one-two punch came with the current release "Rambo," which he also stars in, wrote and directed. The film, distributed by Lionsgate, made $18.2 million in its opening weekend and earned an estimated $25 million in its first 10 days of release.
Petty, Heartbreakers sound a bit too perfect at Super Bowl
Tom Petty bills himself as an old-fashioned rock 'n' roller who takes a stand against all the jive and corny aspects of show biz.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers bring pristine showmanship - a little too pristine, perhaps - to the halftime show at Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Ariz.
But Sunday, he backed down in his Super Bowl halftime show. It seems the rocker was lip-syncing.The 57-year-old singer wouldn't be the first – or the last – musician to lip-sync at the Super Bowl. Playing a noisy football stadium on live TV is such an acoustical nightmare that most acts decide to tape their 12-minute set the week before and "sing" into a dead microphone during the show. The only thing live is the between-song "Thank you!"
Janet Jackson was obviously lip-syncing in 2004, and Paul McCartney appeared to be doing the same in 2005. But Prince and the Rolling Stones reversed the trend at the last two Super Bowls, with live sets that were raw but still spectacular.
Mr. Petty and the Heartbreakers lacked that element of danger in their by-the-book rendition of "American Girl," "I Won't Back Down," "Free Fallin' " and "Runnin' Down a Dream."
All the tell-tale signs of lip-syncing were there: The vocals sounded too pristine, Mr. Petty's lungs didn't seem to be expanding far enough, and every time he sang, his mouth was strategically hidden behind a big spongy microphone.
Perhaps the real giveaway came during his "ad-libbed" aside in "Free Fallin' ": He backed away from the mike a split-second before his voice trailed off.
The apparent lip-syncing wasn't the only brand of cheese on the buffet. Like most half-time shows, this one began with shots of manic fans sprinting toward the stage à la A Hard Day's Night. During "I Won't Back Down," the camera zoomed in on a bunch of teen girls excitedly jumping up and down.
The last time those things happened to Mr. Petty when cameras weren't on was in 1979.
Still, you can't fault him for taking the gig. In an age when bands like his are banished to the classic-rock ghetto, it's hard to pass up 100 million viewers – especially when you've got a new tour to promote.
Not so coincidentally, tickets for Mr. Petty's North American tour go on sale Monday: The same guy who sang "I was born a rebel" was also born a pretty smart businessman.
Furry critters abound in Super Bowl Ads
NEW YORK - It was an epic battle of the creatures in the Super Bowl ads, ranging from the cute to the menacing to the inexplicably rhythmic. A band of lizard-like reptiles cutting the rug to Michael Jackson's "Thriller"? Hey, it's the Super Bowl.
Much is riding on the ads, which are the most closely scrutinized of the whole year, as well as the most watched and the most expensive. This year's 30-second spots on News Corp.'s Fox network broadcast were fetching as much as $2.7 million. The price edges higher nearly every year.
Last year the game drew 93 million viewers, a level that many believe could be surpassed this year given the strong matchup between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, as well as the Patriots' chance to go for a record unbeaten season.
Using critters is hardly a new trick in the ads for the big game, but this year saw some novel and clever uses of animals durinmg Sunday night's broadcast.
FedEx Corp.'s ad took a decidedly Hitchcockian turn when a corporate underling entrusts shipping operations to a huge squadron of carrier pigeons — eerily reminiscent of "The Birds."
When a tribe of giant pigeons winds up wreaking havoc by accidentally dropping huge boxes into traffic and picking up parked cars and hurling them through windows, a cool-headed supervisor decides that calling FedEx would be a good idea.
Toyota Motor Corp. took a stab at the critter theme with a clever spot for its Corolla model, boasting of the noise-blocking ability of the car by putting a young guy in the drivers seat next to a sleeping family of badgers that will gnaw his face off if awakened. The cannons firing around him aren't the problem, but he would have been better off putting his cell phone on vibrate.
PepsiCo Inc.'s Sobe Life Water brand brought out some dancing lizards to bop along with Naomi Campbell to Michael Jackson's '80s classic "Thriller," whose 25th anniversary edition is coming out later this month.
Elsewhere, job-search site CareerBuilder.com was back in the game — not with the cast of monkeys it used for several years — but with a jarring yet effective ad featuring a bored female office worker whose heart literally jumps out of her chest, struts down to the boss's office and jumps up on the desk with a little sign saying, "I quit." The lesson: Follow your heart, literally.
Anheuser-Busch Inc. was once again the largest advertiser in the game, with a series of humorous spots for its Bud Light brand and a heartfelt "Rocky"-inspired story of a Clydesdale horse that doesn't make the first cut for the carriage team, but succeeds after a year of training with an unlikely coach, a Dalmation dog.
Tom Petty plays it cool at Super Bowl
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' surprisingly subdued Super Bowl halftime show was as uncomplicated in person as it looked on television. There were no wardrobe — or any other kind — of malfunctions.
Moments before the performance, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers calmly waited on the Patriots' side of the field. Once given the go signal, the musicians quickly took the stage, picked up their instruments and started performing. They made playing a concert for about 100 million people look almost effortless.
On the field, it was impossible to tell that the illuminated stage was heart shaped or that a large arrow was headed straight for it at the beginning of Petty's by-the-book rendition of "American Girl." The visual effect wasn't broadcast on the jumbotron. There were other illusions at play, too.
That cross-sectioned crowd of moms, dads and teenagers didn't descend from the stands to spontaneously rock out at Petty's feet. No, they had been assembled just outside of the University of Phoenix Stadium, waiting for their moment on the field since the start of the game in a long line reminiscent of an "American Idol" audition.
However, the audience did actually sing-along when Petty launched into "I Won't Back Down." That wasn't fake, although the screens featuring the words behind Petty seemed slightly unnecessary. Everyone sang like they already knew them.
When the stadium lights dimmed for "Free Fallin,'" those weren't lighters the audience just happened to have in their pockets, ready to whip out in unison for some groovy ambiance. They were actually tiny flashlights that had been previously distributed among the crowd. Hey, free souvenir!
The most spontaneous moment during the halftime performance didn't even make it on TV — and it probably happens every year. After Petty closed the halftime show with "Runnin' Down A Dream," the mob assembled around the stage confusingly ran off in all directions as stagehands frantically disassembled the stage at the same time.
It was the craziest part of the whole evening — except for the part when the Giants won.