New CD Releases, December 2nd: Britney Spears, Neil Young, 'Cadillac Records', Akon, Panic at the Disco, and more
Britney Spears "Circus"
The troubled pop star, who in recent years has garnered more headlines for her personal life than for her musical endeavors, will try to bolster her career with the release of her sixth studio album.
"Circus" follows last year's "Blackout," a work that managed to get some warm reviews, peaked at No. 2 on The Billboard 200, but still fell far from reaching the multi-platinum sales heights of Spears' earlier efforts. "Blackout" did produce the hit single "Piece of Me," a tune that helped her have a big night at the most recent MTV VMA ceremony, during which won three Moonman trophies for "Video of the Year," "Best Female Vocalist" and "Best Pop Video."
The first single from "Circus" is the track "Womanizer," which was produced by Atlanta production crew The Outsyders.
Spears reportedly plans to support the new album with a spring tour. The arena trek would be her first since her 2004 outing, which reportedly grossed more than $30 million.
* * *
Neil Young "Sugar Mountain--Live at Canterbury House 1968" (Reprise)
Young's place in the rock-and-roll history books, as one of the greatest singer/songwriter/guitarists to ever go before a microphone, has been secure for decades. This new release, however, gives fans a rare look at Young's early days as a performer, well before his legend had been carved in stone.
"Sugar Mountain--Live at Canterbury House 1968," available both on CD and DVD, was recorded in Ann Arbor, MI just days before the release of Young's debut solo album. The set captures an intimate performance of some of Young's best-loved songs, including "Mr. Soul" and the title track.
* * *
Original Soundtrack "Cadillac Records" (Sony)
Set to hit movie theaters on Dec. 5, "Cadillac Records" documents the story of the legendary Chicago label Chess Records. The R-rated film stars Beyonce Knowles as Etta James, Mos Def as Chuck Berry, Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, Columbus Short as Little Walter and Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters.
The original soundtrack to "Cadillac Records" features a number of those stars performing in character on some truly classic Chess cuts. For examples, Beyonce (who also served as one of the film's producers) sings "At Last" and "I'd Rather Go Blind," while Mos Def handles "Nadine" and "No Particular Place to Go."
* * *
Akon "Freedom" (Universal)
The R&B/rap star returns with a follow-up to 2006's triple-platinum "Konvicted." "Freedom," which was originally intended to be titled "Acquitted," is Akon's third studio album. The set features a bevy of guest stars, including Young Jeezy, T-Pain and Lil Wayne.
* * *
Panic at the Disco "Live in Chicago" (Fueled by Ramen)
The popular alt-rock troupe unveils its first full-length live release, which is available in both CD and DVD formats, and includes such fan favorites as "Nine in the Afternoon" and "That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)." The group's previous studio set, "Pretty. Odd," hit stores back in March.
* * *
More new releases:
Shoshana Bean, "Superhero" (Shotime)
Vicente Fernández, "Primera Fila" (Sony)
Sarah Elizabeth Foster, "Gardening from the Ground Up Part 1" (Studio Sarah)
Colt Ford, "Ride Through the Country" (Average Joe's)
Hillsong, "Ultimate Worship Collection Volume 2" (Integrity)
Burl Ives, "Favorites for Children" (Shout)
Kylie Minogue, "X (2008 Tour Edition)" (Capitol)
Raulin Rodriguez, "Parece Mentira" (Sony)
Queen, "The Singles Collection" (EMI)
Carly and Lucy Simon, "Sing Songs for Children" (Shout)
Jimmy Smith, "Electrifyin'" (Proper Box)
Various Artists, "Meren Hits 2009" (Sony)
Joe Veras, "Vida" (Sony)
Soundtracks and scores:
"Grimm's & Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales" (Shout)
"Halo Trilogy--The Complete Original Soundtracks" (Sumthing Else)
'Home' is where Dido's heart is
NEW YORK — As a child, Dido was "obsessed with space travel. I only wanted to be an astronaut. The idea just blew my mind."
So it's fitting that a photo of the Earth taken on a 1984 Challenger mission is on the cover of the British singer/songwriter's first studio album in five years, Safe Trip Home.
The album was inspired by the considerable ground that Dido, 36, has covered on the planet as a touring musician since 1999's No Angel. That multiplatinum debut established her as one of the most prominent artists of the Lilith Fair era. Dido spent much of the following decade accumulating frequent-flier miles, appearing at events such as 2005's Live 8.
"In one way, it's made the world a very small place," Dido says over tea in Midtown. "I'm very conscious of the fact that we're all here together."
But as the album's title suggests, Dido's journey has helped her realize "where home actually is. I'm someone who can feel at home anywhere. But the farther you go away, the more you realize that home is where your family and friends are."
For Dido, that means London — though Home took shape in a different setting. In summer 2005, producer Jon Brion, noted for his adventurous but pop-savvy work with artists as diverse as Fiona Apple and Kanye West, suggested that Dido travel to Los Angeles to work on an album.
It wasn't a natural destination. "I was brought up in the inner city," she says. "If I hadn't been working with Jon, I'd have been a bit bored. … (But) Jon is so joyful about it all. We were so productive and having so much fun that I didn't want to stop."
Brion wasn't Dido's only source of inspiration, though. "I'm not that fussed about sunshine, but L.A. in the morning is just stunning. And it's home to the film industry, so it's a city built on storytelling, on people using their imaginations."
In fact, for Home— which was also recorded in London, with Dido's brother and longtime collaborator, Rollo Armstrong, pitching in — Dido commissioned 11 short films, one to accompany each song. "I found local directors in different countries and told them the theme was 'What is home?' " The resulting clips, set in locales from a Thai boxing ring to a Mumbai taxicab, can be viewed at safetriphome.com.
Home hasn't yet yielded a hit on the order of previous Dido singles such as White Flag or Thank You, but "you don't take three years to make a record if that's your concern," says Blender editor in chief Joe Levy. He points out that her music remains "enormously popular with music supervisors for television and movies," and one track, Quiet Times, was recently featured on Grey's Anatomy.
For her part, Dido doesn't mind maintaining a lower profile. "I've always been an introvert, and as you get older, all your characteristics get more pronounced," she says.
Though she allows that the five years since her last album "have had some dramatic highs and lows," she prefers not to discuss them in detail. "It's amazing — I've had 15 kids," jokes the singer, who is single and has no children, when pressed for specifics.
Then, more seriously, and vaguely, Dido says: "I have a relatively normal life, in which there's been an exceptional freedom to travel and to make music. And I feel so lucky for that."
Australia's a Dud—So Is Nicole Kidman Over?
Los Angeles (E! Online) – Australia is kind of a bust after debuting at No. 5, right? What happens to a big-name star like Nicole Kidman after something like this? Does she lose status?
Power producers and agents have been rumbling for years that Nicole Kidman has passed her prime, that her once-endless list of fascinating attributes has dwindled to include only her hypnotically featureless forehead.
Off the record, these sources have said that she's delivered too few bona fide hits, that she has continuously lost power since The Others in 2001.
Yet—like a very leggy monster from the world of H.P. Lovecraft—she manages, every few years, to rise up from her burrow and feed. The reason is a sort of open secret in the movie business...
...and it's a list. It's called the Ulmer Scale, and every decent producer in town uses it when casting big-budget—or even microbudget—films.
"It's a scale of bankability," casting director and author Bonnie Gillespie explains. "It calculates everything—overseas sales, DVD sales—and Nicole Kidman is still near the top of the list for women."
In other words, Kidman may feel done, especially when you stack her up against, say, Robert Pattinson (everybody screeeaaaam!), but there really aren't that many other well-established stars out there who can deliver guaranteed millions in revenue.
One other thing: Australia may have debuted at No. 5, but $14 million this weekend is still a heck of a lot of money. (And it's more than the last Baz Luhrmann-Kidman tango Moulin Rouge! opened with back in '01.)
"That's really not bomby enough to ruin either of their careers," Gillespie says. ""It would need to be a huge bomb, an Ishtar-type bomb, to affect either of them. At that level, they're pretty much untouchable."
At worst, maybe Kidman will take a pay cut. Of a measly $2 million.
'Rachel,' `River,' lead Spirit Award nominees
LOS ANGELES – Anne Hathaway's family drama "Rachel Getting Married," the border-smuggling tale "Frozen River" and the Deep South saga "Ballast" led nominees Tuesday for the Spirit Awards with six nominations each, including best picture.
Other best-picture nominees for the awards, which honor independent film, were Michelle Williams' down-on-her-luck drama "Wendy and Lucy" and Mickey Rourke's broken-down athlete tale "The Wrestler."
Hathaway and Williams have lead-actress nominations, along with Melissa Leo for "Frozen River," Summer Bishil for "Towelhead" and Tarra Riggs for "Ballast."
Rourke has a lead-actor nomination, along with Javier Bardem for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Richard Jenkins for "The Visitor," Sean Penn for "Milk" and Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker."
"Rachel Getting Married," with Hathaway as an addict whose homecoming for her sister's wedding causes upheaval, also earned nominations for director Jonathan Demme, supporting actresses Debra Winger and Rosemarie DeWitt and screenwriter Jenny Lumet.
"Frozen River," which follows a white woman and a Mohawk Indian woman drawn into smuggling on a reservation along the New York-Quebec border, had writing and directing nominations for filmmaker Courtney Hunt. Supporting-actress Misty Upham and supporting-actor Charlie McDermott also were nominated.
"Ballast," the story of a single mother struggling to get by amid trauma and turmoil, grabbed directing and writing nominations for filmmaker Lance Hammer, along with slots for supporting actor JimMyron Ross and for cinematographer Lol Crawley.
Other key nominations included two more for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," for Woody Allen's screenplay and supporting actress Penelope Cruz.
Eligible films must have cost less than $20 million to produce, with significant financing from independent sources outside the Hollywood studio system.
The Spirit Awards will be presented Feb. 21, a day before the Academy Awards.
The ceremony will include the annual Robert Altman Award for an ensemble film, which is being presented to "Synecdoche, New York," the directing debut from "Being John Malkovich" screenwriter Charlie Kaufman.
'Scrubs' returns with a 'friend' as its guest star
NEW YORK – "Scrubs" will have a new medical plan when it returns next month. After seven seasons on NBC, the hospital comedy will air on ABC starting Jan. 6, with Courteney Cox Arquette in a guest role as Sacred Heart's new chief of medicine.
The former "Friends" star will be on duty for a three-episode arc, joining series regulars including Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison and John C. McGinley.
"Scrubs" marks a comedy encore for the 44-year-old Arquette, who, after the long-running "Friends," more recently starred as a tabloid-magazine boss on the FX network melodrama, "Dirt."
Tina Fey's husband talks about her facial scar
NEW YORK – Tina Fey's husband is talking about something the "30 Rock" actress would rather not discuss: the scar on her left cheek.
In an interview in Vanity Fair, Jeff Richmond says a stranger slashed Fey's face when she was 5 years old. He says the incident occurred in the front yard of her house.
Says Richmond: "That scar was fascinating to me. This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life."
Fey says talking about the attack would seem like exploiting it.
Says Fey: "It's really almost like I'm able to forget about it, until I was on-camera, and it became a thing of `Oh, I guess we should use this side' or whatever. Everybody's got a better side."
Kids in the Hall returning to CBC
TORONTO - The Kids in the Hall are returning to the CBC.
Comedian Dave Foley says the five-member troupe is writing an eight-episode miniseries for the public broadcaster.
The show would have the quirky comics playing a multitude of roles and feature an ongoing narrative.
"We're going to start writing that very soon," Foley said recently from the Gemini Awards, where he presented an award at a glitzy bash honouring the best in Canadian drama, variety and comedy TV.
"It'll be an eight-episode arc with a narrative running through it and we will play all the characters but it won't be sketch, it'll be a single narrative miniseries. Probably the closest thing to it will probably be something like (the defunct cult British series) 'League of Gentlemen,' which I think was brilliant. So I hope it will be close to that."
The project is tentatively titled, "Death Comes to Town," and would serve as a long-awaited return by the Toronto-based group to the CBC.
That was where the improv troupe shot to fame in the late '80s and early '90s with their sketch comedy show, "The Kids In the Hall," winning a dedicated fanbase that spilled into the U.S. when the series, produced by "Saturday Night Live"'s Lorne Michaels, aired on CBS.
Their ludicrous characters and surreal worlds included Mark McKinney's sex-crazed chicken lady, Bruce McCulloch's sexist Cabbage Head, Scott Thompson's gay socialite Buddy Cole, and Kevin McDonald and Foley's insane Sizzler Sisters.
After the show went off the air in 1994, each member went on to pursue independent projects in Canada and the United States, with McKinney and McCulloch landing on "Saturday Night Live" and carving niches as sought-after TV writers. McDonald and Thompson went on to score memorable cameos in a slew of sitcoms while Foley's endeavours included a starring role in the long-running series "NewsRadio."
The gang reunited earlier this year for a cross-Canada comedy tour that had them revive their beloved sketch characters.
Most recently, Foley popped up on the Sally Field nighttime soap opera, "Brothers and Sisters," playing a gay man.
"Yes, it was my return to homosexuality," joked Foley, who also played a gay man on the defunct sitcom "Will and Grace."
These days, Foley said he spends much of his time "hanging out as a stage dad" since his five-year-old daughter has launched a blossoming acting career.
He notes that she's currently working on a movie with action superstar Jackie Chan, and in recent months did a web series, a soap opera and a pilot for Fox.
"I'm basically just living in her very tiny shadow," he said.
He said the Kids are also thinking about hitting the big screen with a feature film.
"As a group, we're still talking about doing a feature as well but first we have to wait 'til everyone who ever saw 'Brain Candy' is dead," sighed Foley, referring to their critically panned 1996 feature.