New Preview: “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”

Warner Bros. just released the official full length trailer for “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”. I am really excited for this one. It is one of the best books of the series, and it looks like it could be the best movie. It has great character developments and awesome special effects.

Check it out on Hulu.

New Movie: “State of Play”

“State of Play” is a detective movie coming out this Friday, April 17th. It has a great ensemble cast including Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Jeff Daniels.

Supposedly, the film was going to star Brad Pitt and Edward Norton who appeared together in Fight Club in 1999. At least we know that the film must have a good script if those two were going to sign on for the leads. One of the writers is Tony Gilroy who c0-wrote “Michael Clayton” and the Jason Bourne series.

I think it looks suspenseful, and compared to the other movies out this weekend, “State of Play” will probably be the best choice for anyone over the age of 15.

New EP: TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio received a lot of good reviews for their 2008 album, Dear Science. For anyone who knows how eclectic this group is, you may not be surprised that they just released an EP of remixes yesterday. The EP (cleverly titled Read Silence) features 3 remixed songs from their 2008 album. Fortunately they did not just depend on the popularity of their singles to promote the EP, but remixed three of their lesser known songs.

The band has made several albums in the last six years, but it was Dear Science that made them more mainstream. I thought it was an interesting choice to take the songs that only those who bought the original album would recognize, remix them, and rerelease them on an EP. The songs sounds great, so I would definitely recommend checking them out.

For some reason, all of the bands I like seem to make really odd music videos. The one below is “Golden Age” off of Dear Science, just to give you a taste of their unique sound.

Artist of the Week: Atmosphere

Atmosphere is a hip-hop duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota consisting of rapper, Slug and DJ/producer Ant. Although the  indie rap group’s first album came out in 1997, their last few albums have enjoyed the most commercial success, culminating with an appearance on David Letterman. One of the reasons the duo has remained relevant over the years is their constant touring and strong fan base.

Their most recent album, “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold,” received critical acclaim and success, premiering at #5 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200, selling 36,000 copies in their first week. Some of my favorite songs are You,

Yesterday, and Sunshine. Take a listen and let us know what you think.

iTunes Hikes Prices

If this isn’t a sign of the economy crisis, I don’t know what is. Itunes has hiked many of its popular songs prices up 30%. This means many songs are now $1.29! Who can afford those things? Apparently, less popular songs are now $.69 and moderately popular songs are still $.99. Regardless, most people are buying the new stuff. I don’t know about you, but I feel like this will only encourage more illegal downloading. This doesn’t seem like Itunes’ brightest idea ever, although only revenue and time will tell. What do you think?

 

New Soon To Be Released Album: Dave Matthews Band

Yes, thats right folks, The legendary Dave Matthews Band is coming out with their seventh studio album, which will be  available everywhere on June 2. The album entitled Big Whiskey and The GrooGrux King pays homage to their late friend and band mate Leroi Moore. When asked about the album Dave Matthews responds “if this was the last album that DMB ever made, then this is the only album that I want fans to hear. This one’s for Leroi.”

Although the name of the album sounds very strange there is a specific reason behind their choice; the word “Groogrux” is the nickname given to Leroi by the band. The track listings for the song include, Cockadile, Dive In, Lying in the Hands of God, Funny the Way It Is, Shake Your Monkey, Spaceman, Skworm, TimeBomb, Why I Am and You N Me Stripped Down. The band wanted to create something beautiful with this album in memorium of the former saxophonist and their good friend Leroi. The songs are a celebration of his legacy and a fully rich life. In order to showcase this all the songs are made up of up tempo beats and a jazzy good ole southern feel. The band got back to their Creole roots combining a ripping banjo line with a swampy New Orleans vibe that one cannot forget.

Although the album stays true to the jam band roots of DMB, it also taps into a more creative side for them in which they focus more on developing and maturing their in-studio skills. It was a big step for them to become not only the band with of the greatest live performances, but also the greatest studio albums. DMB really stepped outside of their box as a band and became one new cohesive unit full of vibrancy and life with this CD. For more information on their upcoming CD, visit DMB’s website at www.davematthewsband.com.

Playground Talk, April 7-April 13

Surprisingly, “Hannah Montana The Movie” made an estimated 34 million in the box office this weekend. Maybe it’s better than we expected…? Also a new release, “Observe and Report” ranked fourth in earnings with an estimated 11 million. I’m assuming many of you didn’t go watch Miley, but if so, what did you think?

The Black Eyed Peas quickly took the number one spot on the music charts with their latest track, “Boom Boom Pow.” Lady GaGa has finally moved into second place with her song “Poker Face.”

As for the weekend, it was dominated by Miley and I’m wondering if the popularity of the movie will subside anytime soon. During the upcoming week, “17 Again” (starring Zac Efron), “Crank Two: High Voltage,” and “State of Play” are all opening on Friday. We also have some new artists to talk about so check up daily for our new posts!

 

Top Ten Songs In The Country This Week

According to Billboard’s Hot 100 Music Chart the top ten songs (based on circulation) in the country this week are:

1. The Black Eyed Peas: Boom Boom Pow

2. Lady Gaga: Poker Face

3. Flo Rida: Right Round

4. Soulja Boy Tell ’em Feat. Sammie: Kiss Me Through The Phone

5. Jamie Foxx Feat. T-Pain: Blame It

6. T.I. Feat. Justin Timberlake: Dead and Gone

7. Kid Cudi: Day ‘N’ Nite

8. The All-American Rejects: Gives You Hell

9: The Fray: You Found Me

10. Miley Cyrus: The Climb

Just wanted to let everyone out there know, I hate Miley Cyrus and I think that she a sad excuse for ANY sort of singer. That girl is only famous because of her father, and it not based on her talent because clearly home girl doesn’t have any. Thoughts?

New Rental: “Bedtime Stories”

I know that “Bedtime Stories” was intended for a much younger audience than college students, but it still had a lot of comedic value to it. It stars Adam Sandler, although is pretty far from his typical films. He brought all of his normal goofiness into this film, and as his character points out in the movie, “goofy is the new handsome”.

The movie also has other hilarious and random characters played by Russell Brand (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) and Guy Pierce (“Memento”).

The movie came out this week. I suggest renting it, especially if you are home for Easter and need a family friendly film that will still be funny, and maybe even reminiscent. It is definitely a good movie if you can let yourself go and enjoy the silliness of the bedtime story scenarios, and ignore the fact that it lacks an original ending.

New Album Release: Jadakiss

Roc-a-fella recording artist, Jadakiss, came out with his third album “The Last Kiss” a couple days ago, and let me tell you this album is straight fire. The beats are innovative and hard-hitting, staying true to Jadakiss’ New York style. The album was produced by Swizz Beats, Alchemist, The InKredibles and The Neptunes, and without fail they created another hit. The album features Ne-yo, Faith Evans, Styles P (another original member of The Lox with Jada), Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface Killa, Lil Wayne and Jazmine Sullivan.

The best track on the album, in my opinion, is Death Wish, featuring Lil Wayne. Not only does it featuring the return of an old-school Lil Wayne rapping in his original gangsta style, but the beat is insane. It is reminisicent of Jada’s rap days with D-block when each song they banged out would be nothing but straight up gangsta music with beats that carried the underground sounds of New York.  Jada also dedicates a song to the late great Notorious B.I.G, in Letter to B.i.g, featuring Biggy’s ex-wife Faith Evans. Back in the day Notorious took Jada under his wing once Jada got signed to Bad Boy Records with Diddy, and this pays homage to that fact.

This album makes me happy because with all the bubble gum hip-hop that is inflitrating this genre, it is good to see that there are still artists out there who stay true to their craft and use their experiences to create true hip-hop. Keep it coming Jada and stay true. P.S., to all you Lox fans out there, a new, reunion album is supposedly in the works, so be on the lookout for that.