Archive for October, 2008

Mel B removes references to Eddy Murphy

Despite having one track with a working title of “Beverly Hills C*ck”, Mel B is removing references to former lover Eddy Murphy from her upcoming album, according to reports on the China Daily News. Two songs in particular, ‘Second Hand Lover’ and ‘Reflections In A Broken Mirror’, will be scotched. The former Spice Girl, currently [...]

Toumani Diabeté track is pulled from Sony game

In a pretty radical move, Sony Entertainment has decided to pull a track by the Malian harp player Toumani Diabete from the upcoming Little Big Planet game. The track “Tapha Niang” contains two lines quoted from the Quran. After a poster on a Sony message board started complaining, the company decided to withdraw the track [...]

Boy George samples Obama

I’m not sure what to make of this. 80s icon Boy George has recorded a song using a sample of the US president candidate Barack Obama. But, it’s hard to know what exactly the point is, or what he intends to achieve. “Yes We Can” is somewhere between a very private statement and a feelgood [...]

Jacques Brel lyrics sell for $170,000

This is always an odd question: what is the value of words? It’s strange that the answer comes from auctioneers, who seem to have a better idea of what song lyrics are worth than other people. The recent sale of Brel lyrics and memorabilia generated intense interest in Paris recently, as it coincided with the [...]

Modest Mouse “Dashboard” picks up BMI award

Modest Mouse’s single “Dashboard” picked up the award for the College Song of the Year from BMI recently, topping a strong career since 2006’s “We Were Dead before the Ship Even Sank” (although they’ve existed since 1994). I’ve always enjoyed the band for their titles such as “This is a Long Drive for Someone With [...]

Womanizer: The return of Britney Spears

I must admit: I wasn’t expecting this. Watching Britney Spear’s recent career has been a painful exercise, as a cute child star hit the worst times you could ever wish on her (or her family). But on “Womanizer” she’s back, almost as if nothing had happened. The photos look great, the production is slick, the [...]

RIP: Telex and jazz musician Marc Moulin

The news of Marc Moulin’s death has come as something of a shock in Europe. The legendary composer and producer is perhaps best known for his work with the pioneering synth-pop group Telex. But that was only one small part of the man’s achievements, as he also had numerous hits as a producer and writer [...]