Is This It X

Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “It’s Blitz” Leaks

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ third album, titled It’s Blitz!, will get its old school release on April 13th. You know what I’m talking about.  Record stores, CDs and all that 1990s sh*t.

Lucky for you, we live in 2009, and today is the release that is significant to you and I.  It’s the day when the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ third studio album leaked on the Internet.

To hear It’s Blitz!, you’re going to have to break some rules.  If that’s OK with you, then click here.

Enjoy the album, everyone.  And let me know how It’s Blitz sounds.

(Thanks to TC On The Radio for the tip)

Rihanna Releases Statement Regarding Chris Brown

Rihanna has released a statement regarding the Chris Brown incident where the “Umbrella” singer had her face beat in. She can’t talk about it because of the LAPD’s investigation.

The statement, released by Rihanna’s lawyers, reads…

“At the request of the authorities, Rihanna is not commenting about the incident involving Chris Brown. She wants to assure her fans that she remains strong, is doing well, and deeply appreciates the outpouring of support she has received during this difficult time.”

If you missed the news (and I don’t really know how you did if you have a pulse), a photo was released last week that showed the extent of Rihanna’s injuries.  Here is the link to TMZ.

Related, Chris Brown has hired the same PR team that Mel Gibson hired to deal with his DUI back.

Oh, and Star reports that Rihanna and Chris Brown have fought before.

Arctic Monkeys Debut New Songs

To see their performances, like this one, go to YouTube and type “Arctic Monkeys + Big Day Out 09″  Their performance is great.

Here’s one of their new songs, called “Crying Lightning”

White Stripes Reunite To Be Conan’s Last Late Night Guest

As ISIX reported a couple days ago (which has since been confirmed), the White Stripes will be the last guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

This is not foreign territory for Jack and Meg White, who have been on Late Night five times.  But it might be a little weird, because Jack and Meg have not played together since the middle of 2007.

But, if their performance is anything like this one, Conan’s audience should be satisfied…

I’m interested in what they’re going to play.  Will it be one of their well-known hits, or will they bust out a more obscure song?  Will Conan O’Brien have any say in the matter because it’s his final show, and will we find out if he does?

We’ll see.  In the meantime, here’s Conan interviewing Jack and Meg White back in 2005.

You Only Live Once – Rare

As I write this (on Feb. 11 at approximately 1:00 p.m CT), The Strokes are getting together in New York City to start working on a follow-up to First Impressions of Earth.

To pay my respects to the best rock ‘n’ roll band on the planet, I figured that I should share some rare material from The Strokes that I’ve accumulated since First Impressions of Earth was released.  The following is the first such video.

Before you click play, here are a few details about what you’re about to hear:  This is a primitive version of The Strokes’s “You Only Live Once,” which one can hear with Julian Casablancas’s lyrics.  The band recorded the following version of YOLO during their Zane Lowe sessions, and it is fantastic.

Update: Blink-182 Is Back Together

Blink-182 just announced, literally two minutes ago, that they are back together.

My favorite band of my youth returns!

Oh, the wonders of web publishing.

MIA’s Due Date Same Night As Grammys

Double Grammy nominee MIA is very, very pregnant (as you can see).  In fact, her due date is tomorrow, the same night she is scheduled to perform at the Grammys.

Though many musicians might just say “thanks but no thanks” to the Grammys, MIA still plans on performing at music’s most prestigious award show.  She recently said that she has been asked to perform “Swagga Like Us,” a spin-off on her mega-hit “Paper Planes,” alongside Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and TI.  So yeah, it’s quite an opportunity to perform alongside hip-hop’s four biggest artists – one that doesn’t come along all that often.

But the Sri Lankan artist says that she’s scared that a performance might induce labor.

“When I read these books on childbirth they are like, ‘If you want to induce labor, try having a game of arm wrestle with your friend.’ I am like, ‘Oh my God, my option isn’t an arm wrestle — it’s like being onstage and with Jay-Z and Lil Wayne and Kanye and T.I’,” she told the AP.  “To me that is really exciting, to be a nine-month pregnant woman.”

We’ll see what happens.  Hopefully, for MIA’s sake, a performance doesn’t induce labor.  But if it does, that would be a neat thing for a 10+ million audience to see.

Check out the Grammys Sunday night – Feb. 8 – on CBS.

UPDATE: MIA lost Record of the Year, but killer her performance alongside Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye and TI.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to give birth.

Dewey Martin, Buffalo Springfield Drummer, Dies

Dewey Martin, the famed drummer of legendary rock group Buffalo Springfield, died in his hotel room on Feb. 6.  He was 68.

Martin was discovered by one of his roommates, longtime friend Lisa Lenes told the police, the AP reports.  Lenes went on to say that Martin had been suffering from health problems in recent years, and that she believed that he died of natural causes.

Martin started Buffalo Springfield with Neil Young and Stephen Stills, singer-songwriter-guitarist Richie Furay and bassist Bruce Palmer back in Los Angeles in 1966.  Shortly after, Buffalo Springfield was one of the biggest bands in the country by riding the wave of their self-titled debut album.

After the band broke up in 1968, they continued to have success, and while Young and Stills reunited to start a band with Bing Crosby, Martin continued to tour the country in different forms of the band. Two of the most successful Buffalo Springfield spin-off bands, if you will, were Buffalo Springfield Revisited (with whom Martin toured during the ’80s) and Buffalo Springfield Again (with whom Martin toured in the ’90s).

Lenes said that Martin will be buried in his native Canada.

Lil Wayne’s New Single

It took the better part of two days for me to find a version of Lil Wayne’s new single “Prom Queen” that actually works, but here it is.

What puzzles me is what Weezy actually does with the making of this song.  Does he just write the raps, or is he more involved.  If anyone knows, let me know.

Thoughts on the song itself?

Radiohead, “Swagga Like Us” Crew Join Grammys

For as long as I can remember, the Grammys have been dull.  They typically bring in musical acts that many don’t care about and are typically boring (remember that Beatles performance last year?).

That will change this year.

Justin Timberlake, TI, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Radiohead have all been added to the Grammys over the last couple of days.

They join Katy Perry, Coldplay, Carrie Underwood, the Jonas Brothers, Jennifer Hudson, Kenny Chesney, Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters.  Though the acts in the previous sentence should all be entertaining, the headlining performance will be the “Swagga Like Us” super-group of TI, Jay-Z, Kanye and Weezy.

TI and Jay-Z have performed the song together (above), but Kanye and Weezy have yet to join in the fun.  So, for me, “Swagga Like Us” is reason enough to tune in.

The other interesting collaboration will be TI and Justin Timberlake performing “Dead & Gone.”

Mostly because TI is about to go to jail, and it’s going to be a while before we see him again.  But also because JT vowed to never again perform at the Grammy’s two years ago after he performed “My Love” with TIP.

The other thing that stands out as must-see TV, to steal a cliche, is Radiohead’s first live American TV performance since 2000. Here they are on Letterman, performing “Karma Police.”

The Grammy’s air Feb. 8th.

Coldplay Sued For Plagiarism

Coldplay has been sued for plagiarism by guitarist Joe Satriani, who claims the band ripped off one of his songs on their latest album.

The song in question is also the title track off of “Viva La Vida”, which is the widely-hailed single that the American Satriani claims was stolen from his 2004 song “If I Could Fly.”

He claims that the band used “substantial original portions” from his song, and because of that he says they stole from him.  Satriani is demanding a jury trial, according to the BBC, and he wants all the profits from the band’s record.

You know what?

Coldplay’s guilty.  They stole the part.

Maybe that’s why Chris Martin wants to break up next year.