This Is War Teaser

This is the teaser trailer for the short film/music video that will be coming out soon for 30 Seconds to Mars.

She & Him

She & Him – “In The Sun”

This is the first single off the duo’s sophomore album, Volume Two (in stores 3/23).

Via Pitchfork

30 Seconds to Mars + Apple’s iPad

Take a look at the new iPad commercial featuring the song “Kings and Queens” by 30 Seconds to Mars.

The Grammys

Sunday was the annual Grammy extravaganza and I’ve waited to let people calm down after finding out that “so-and-so” was ripped off and should have won such and such award.

Once upon a time the Grammys were an awards show. The Oscars of the music industry. Times change and the Grammys have changed as well. Once upon a time Grammy nominees were artists more than performers. That time is no more. The performer reigns supreme. Sunday night’s show was more like a 3 1/2 hour concert with a spattering of awards given throughout.

There were exciting duos (Elton John and Lady Gaga) and extravagant performances (Beyonce‘ and P!nk). There was a moving tribute in 3D  (RIP Michael Jackson) and a performance that may have made you wonder how people get record deals (Taylor Swift). What this Grammy show did not have were many awards. 99 out of the 109 awards that were given out on Sunday were given during the Pre-tel that began hours before the actual awards show.

There is a lot of criticism out in the world right now about who won what awards and who should have won them. I don’t know how people think that the Grammy winners are chosen but just because a song is well written and well sung/played it doesn’t mean that it will win. Keep in mind that once upon a time Milli Vanilli won a Grammy for best new artist in 1990. Sure they had to give it up, but they won. Why did they win? Their songs were popular. Sure Lady Gaga has had some hits lately but Taylor Swift is a more popular artist. Gaga still freaks people out. Maybe next year will be different.

This year the Grammys were seen through another aspect as well, Twitter. Well, really, any social media like Facebook, tumblr, etc., but I think Twitter was the king of the night. As many other people did, I followed the Grammy coverage on Twitter. The Grammys have a twitter account and used it last year but it just wasn’t the same use as this year. Fans were more involved in commentary about the show than ever before. Everyone and their mother tweeted their opinions about the winners and in many cases, spoiled the show for everyone that just wanted to know the winners. After the Taylor/Kanye fiasco during MTV’s VMA show I was surprised at how many people were tweeting, “Where is Kanye when you need him” in response to Taylor taking home the Album of the Year award.

Also, in response to the many country fans that felt that Country wasn’t represented enough at the Grammys, aside from Miss Swift,  I say these four things: First, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland got to sing with Bon Jovi. Second, Lady Antebellum won the Grammy for best country performance by a duo or group. Third, the Zac Brown Band took home the best new artist Grammy. And fourth, Country music has the CMAs, the ACM awards, and the Grammys. Lighten up country fans.

So, what are your thoughts on the Grammys?

Michael Jackson Tribute

As many people know, tomorrow’s GRAMMY’s show will feature a tribute to Michael Jackson. A picture was just posted of those that will be taking part. I hope this tribute will be as amazing as it looks to be. Don’t forget to get your 3D glasses from Target!

Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Carrie Underwood

Hope for Haiti Now

This event, which takes place tomorrow night on over 30 television stations, is organized by George Clooney and MTV. The event is being held to raise money for assistance after the devastating 7.1 earthquake (and following 6.1 aftershock) hit the country and up to 200,000 people have died.
Musical artist that have signed on to perform are:
Coldplay
Beyonce‘
Alicia Keys
Christina Aguilera
John Legend
Justin Timberlake
Stevie Wonder
Taylor Swift
Madonna
Emeline Michel
Wyclef Jean
Bruce Springsteen
Jennifer Hudson
Mary J. Blige
Shakira
Sting
Dave Matthews
A group performance by Keith Urban, Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow
A group performance by Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna in London.

After the concert is over all the tracks will then be released via iTunes with proceeds going to help Haiti.

In addition to the amazing musical talent several celebrities will be making appearances during the show.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper will report from Haiti during the show. George Clooney and Wyclef Jean will be joined by President Bill Clinton, Robert Pattinson, Brad Pitt,  Jon Stewart, Chris Rock, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio,  Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller,Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman,  Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks and Halle Berry.

More information on the Hope for Haiti Now concert and track releases can be found on the MTV website.

The telethon  will air commercial-free across MTV, VH1, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, BET, the CW, HBO, CMT, PBS, TNT, Showtime, Comedy Central, Bravo, E! Entertainment Network, National Geographic Channel, Oxygen, G4, Centric, Current TV, Fuse, MLB Network, Epix, Palladia, SoapNet, Style, Discovery Health and Planet Green. Canada’s CTV, CBC Television, Global Television and MuchMusic also will air “Hope for Haiti,” as will BET International, CNN International, National Geographic and MTV Networks International, making the event available in 640 million homes worldwide.

MTV says that, ” ‘Hope for Haiti Now’ will begin accepting donations at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT on Friday via the following methods:

» Online: www.hopeforhaitinow.org
» Phone: 877-99-HAITI
» Text: Text “GIVE” to 50555
» Mail: Hope For Haiti Now Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation, 1201 West 5th Street, Suite T-700, Los Angeles, CA 90017″

One reason I love 30 Seconds to Mars

“[This] wasn’t a record where we just stumbled upon everything. Certainly when you make mistakes and you fail, that’s the best, and I love to fail. … I don’t avoid failing because you learn from that, in a way that you could never learn from anything else. Failure is one of the greatest teachers. And we failed a lot on this record,” 30STM frontman Jared Leto told MTV News. “It’s an ambitious album. It’s an album that invited the world to sing and to record and to experiment. To confess. And it is a spiritual record in a way. It is of the spirit world rather than cerebral or just purely guttural. It talks about faith and fighting for what you believe in and the idea of community. … It was an opportunity for us to embrace the community around 30 Seconds to Mars and really to create the record that we’ve always dreamed of.”

**This Is War**

New Blog

I maintain various blogs but I wanted a place for more serious work instead of daily ramblings. I am passionate about music and will post my thoughts and opinions on what is happening (and has happened) in the world of music, as well as links to articles from other sources about interesting things happening in music.