Author: News on Shuffle

Free At Last

Free at last! Free at last!

So says Amanda Palmer, just before announcing she has finally been dropped from her label. Palmer, known to her fans as AFP, has been fighting with the label for a few years now. She started with them back when she was lead singer for The Dresden Dolls. The relationship was good at first but slowly deteriorated until she was left with very little freedom over her music and what she could do with it. Now she has the ability to make these choices on her own. Her first act of celebratory free-ness: sharing a free download with her fans. Even though she is glad to be able to shed the label’s skin, Palmer still wishes it to be known that there is no hostility held towards Roadrunner Records. She writes a letter to them in her blog which remembers the good times before things went south. Just another example of our little AFP taking the high road and showing some class.

Kudos.

Remembering Kurt Cobain

On this day in 1994, Kurt Cobain died at the age of 27. Cobain was the lead singer of the band, Nirvana. Nirvana has always been one of my favorite bands, and Smells Like Teen Spirit is possibly one of my favorite songs. It is one of the first songs I can remember thinking “Ooh, I love this song” every time it came on the radio. Many people, I’m sure, feel the same way. Many more can probably remember where they were when Kurt Cobain died. (Being too young to remember this myself, I equate it to remembering where I was when I found out Heath Ledger had died). The band is legendary, as is Cobain, and enjoyed much success while it was around. Dave Grohl (their drummer) would go on to form his own band, Foo Fighters, which has also enjoyed much success. He has also recently formed another band, Them Crooked Vultures. Both bands have plans for future albums and a tour.

And now, a tribute:

Google Changes It’s Name

April Fools?

Yeah, today is April Fool’s Day, but Google is one of the few places where this is amusing. Apparently they have changed their name to Topeka as a way to recognize the town changing their name to Google. The story has been linked to if you want the full scoop. Even though I am not a fan of April Fool’s Day, I still found this amusing. As for the rest of it, you can all have fun trying to decide what is real today but I am going to sink myself into some fictional world where I know what is real and what isn’t. (This probably means catching up on Supernatural).
Have a happy Fool’s Day, everyone.
And if you are in the Philly area then you should be spending it with Fooling April. The band has their Beatles Tribute/charity show tonight.

Doctor Who News

Lots of Doctor Who related tidbits with the new series ready to debut soon.

For those of us in the US, we have two events to look forward to. One is Monday April 12th at The Paley Center. This is going to be offered to members of the Center first before the general public is allowed in. The event is free but seating is limited so they ask you to reserve a seat. Details can be found here. If you can’t make it to this smaller event, there is a bigger one happening at Village East Cinema on April 14th. This is also free but you’re going to want to get there early as it is first come, first served. Details courtesy of BBC America.

In other news, Doctor Who Magazine has won a Guinness World Record as the Longest Running Magazine Based on a Television Series. It joins Doctor Who as the longest running Sci-fi series and most successful Sci-fi series in 2009. The show is brilliant and deserves all the recognition it has been getting recently. Congratulations!
Doctor Who Series 5 premieres April 3 in the UK and April 17th in the US.

Artic Monkeys Can’t Stop the Beat

Artic Monkeys have been touring and enjoying the success of their new album Humbug for awhile now. So of course when the tour wraps up they are going to take a much needed break, right?

Wrong!

The band plans to get right back into the studio to start working on their next project. There are no details available yet, except their plans to do this. For those of us (like me) who realized their love for the band after they had already passed their home town on the tour, this is exciting news. Let me do the math for you:

new album = another tour

At least it probably does. Either way, new music from this great band is nothing to sneeze at. After all, they weren’t listed as one of my top bands of 2009 for nothing.

Happy Birthday + News Roundup

Lots of music and television news to share today. But first…

A happy birthday shout-out to Robbie Coltrane. Coltrane is best known for his portrayal of Hagrid in theHarry Potter series, although he is in a number of other films as well. He turns 60 today.

Moving from movies to television, it has already spread pretty quickly that this is officially the last season of 24. There was talk about it moving to NBC, but that is definitely not happening. The movie is in the works though, and will likely follow chronologically the events of the current season.

And in music, RXP’s Experience Next presents: One Eskimo. This show is free to all and will be at Brooklyn Bowl on March 31.
Last, but certainly not least, MGMT‘s video for Flash Delirium is online for your viewing pleasure.


Bonus round:
For Doctor Who fans, here is an interview with Stephen Moffat.

The new season of Doctor Who premieres this weekend in the UK and April 17th in the US.

Happy Birthday (x2)

Two birthday shout-outs today, one mainstream music artist and one slightly lesser known television star.

First off, thought you would be interested to know it is Lady Gaga’s birthday today. She is known for her dance beats and outrageous costumes, but do any of you know her real name? It’s Stafani Joanna Angelina Germanotta, in case you were wondering. Did you also know she started out performing in the Lower East Side of NYC? The area is known for it’s music scene with Bowery Ballroom being located there, as well as a number of other venues. And I bet you didn’t know her name is based from the Queen song “Radio Ga Ga” either. There are so many things yet to be discovered about this performer, but just know there is more to her than her costumes.

Next, News on Shuffle would like to wish a very happy birthday to Gareth David-Lloyd, who plays Ianto Jones on the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood. Many fans consider him a favorite on the show, especially regarding his relationship to the lead, Captain Jack Harkness. Even if you don’t watch Torchwood, you still might recognize him as Dr. Watson from the recent Sherlock Holmes film.

As a combined birthday tribute, I thought it would be cool to share a video with Ianto and a Lady Gaga song. So here is Jack & Ianto’s Bad Romance

And because what’s a birthday without some dancing, why don’t we Just Dance?

Happy Birthday, Nathan Fillion

News on Shuffle would like to wish Nathan Fillion a very happy birthday. Fillion was once star of the Joss Whedon cult classic, “Firefly” as well as Whedon’s other cult favorites “Dr. Horrible” as Captain Hammer and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (where he guest starred in the final season). He currently star’s on the ABC show “Castle”. Other appearances by Fillion include a recurring role on a season of Desperate Housewives as Dr. Mayfair and the portrayal of Joey Buchanan on the soap opera “One Life to Live”. Fillion turns 39 today.

Anticipating Tony

Tony nominations aren’t going to be announced until May, but there is already some talk as to which musicals might be nominated. Assuming they both get nominated, I personally think who wins is going to come down to one of two: American Idiot or Memphis. While American Idiot is only in previews now, it already has a lot of interest from the general public. On the other hand, Memphis not only has quite a following already, it is also a superb show with very strong elements to it. I cannot tell you which I think deserves the win until I see American Idiot for myself. I know the album it is based off of is one of my favorites by Green Day (or the rock genre for that matter) and that it has the potential to be something special. Whether that potential translates on stage and connects with audiences is yet to be determined.