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Various Artists: Wizards of Waverly Place

First, we’ll pause as everyone gets their ‘Disney kids suck’ jokes out of their system. All finished? Good, now let’s move on. Truth be told, we nearly deleted the email promoting this CD on sight, but took a cursory glance, then wrote the rep and said, “Send this pronto.” The reason? Cover versions, cover versions and more cover versions of songs having to do with, surprise, magic. Nothing here transcends the original recordings, of course, but some of them fare better than you might expect. Selena Gomez turns in a rather good performance of Pilot’s “Magic” (it is not coincidence that Gomez, the best singer here, gets the album’s first three tracks), and Meaghan Martin turns in a disciplined, if breathy, performance on the cover of Olivia Newton-John’s “Magic.” The boys, however, do not fare as well. Steve Rushton is completely overpowered by ELO’s “Strange Magic” (though producer John Fields assembles a nifty arrangement), as is Mitchel Musso by “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.” Honor Society’s version of the Cars’ “Magic,” meanwhile, is as fluffy and throwaway as the original, and Drew Seeley’s cover of America’s “You Can Do Magic” is destroyed by an oh-so-trendy 6/8 beat and a pinched vocal. The end result is exactly what you’d expect from a collection of Disney-sanctioned covers: overproduced and kid-friendly, but not without its, um, charms. (Walt Disney Records 2009)

Röyksopp: Junior

Röyksopp are the best musical group to come out of Norway since A-ha (sorry, Turbonegro fans), and they’ve had hit after hit thanks mainly to the use of their songs in commercials. “Epple” was used by Apple, “So Easy” was picked up by T-Mobile for their commercials, and Geico used “Remind Me” in their ads in America. Nothing from Junior has been picked up yet, although it’s hard to see why since it is full of instantly high-energy beats, melodies and incredibly vocal hooks that would go great with the Geico lizard or the Verizon guy. Röyksopp waste no time cutting to the chase with Junior. The album opens with the bouncy beats “Happy Up There,” a great song for sure, but one that is absolutely left in the dust by the following track, “The Girl and the Robot.” Put bluntly, this is a dance track for the ages, one that will go down history as a crowning achievement of what electronic music was capable of in the 00s. It has it all, like some sort of perfect amalgamation of everything great that’s come out of dance music since 1977. Cold electronic synths, acid house style effects, dance-punk energy, it’s all there and all made even better by a dynamite vocal performance by Swedish dance diva Robyn, who delvers the heartfelt lines about a woman in love with…well, a robot (or possibly a workaholic, it’s never made clear) with gut-wrenching intensity. While the rest of the album never matches that level of brilliance, its hard to hold that against it. After all, it’s not really fair to expect more than one earth-shattering work of undeniable genius on a record. A few tracks do come close though, including “Tricky Tricky” which features biting mean vocals by Karin Dreijer Andersson of the Knife, and the dreamy “Miss It So Much” which features vocals by another Swedish seductress, Lykke Li. This is a hell of a dance record, and would easily be the best of the year if it wasn’t for Its Blitz! by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But being second best to what is so far the album of the year isn’t something to be ashamed of in the least. (Astralwerks 2009)

Röyksopp MySpace Page

BBC to air new Beatles doc

Beatles

Keeping with Beatles news (as they obviously need the press), BBC Two and Four is about to have their “Beatles Week,” which will air multiple documentaries on the the legendary band. The most anticipated on the bunch is The Beatles on Record, which will include narration by the Fab Four and their producer George Martin, unreleased outtakes, and conversations from the band in the studio. The series will kick off on September 5th. Other pieces include The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit, which chronicled the band’s 1964 visit to the States, as well as How the Beatles Rocked the Kremlin, an interesting look at the Beatle’s impact on communist Russia.

The Beatles On Record, directed by Bob Smeaton, charts The Beatles’ extraordinary journey from Please Please Me to Abbey Road and reflects on how they developed as musicians, matured as songwriters and created a body of work that sounds as fresh in 2009 as the time it was recorded.

Narrated entirely by John, Paul, George, Ringo and their producer Sir George Martin, the documentary features more than 60 classic songs, rare footage and photos from The Beatles’ archives and never-heard-before out-takes of studio chat from the Abbey Road recording sessions.

This is followed on the same evening on BBC Two by The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit.

BBC Two will also be reshowing Timewatch: Beatlemania, the inside story of the rise and fall of Beatlemania. By 1966 the Beatles had played more than 1,400 gigs, toured the world four times and sold the equivalent of 200 million records. At the height of their popularity, and without warning, they pulled the plug and never toured again.

There’s also another chance to see the action adventure spoof Help!, directed by Richard Lester.

Unfortunately, BBC hasn’t confirmed whether on not they will air the series on BBC America. I don’t see why they wouldn’t, as nobody watches that station anyway. Inform Americans that the channel will air a slew of never-before-seen Beatles footage and you’ll have millions tuning in.

The tribute week will coincide with EMI’s release of the band’s entire digitally remastered catalogue, as well as the previously reported The Beatles:Rock Band. Both will be released on September 9th. Hopefully BBC will wise up and air “Beatles Week” in the States, where there’s a larger market and just as rabid a fan base.

Online battle of the bands to determine spot at ACL festival

Sound and the Jury (S&J), a virtual battle of the bands, is returning for a third year, offering one lucky band the opportunity to perform on the Dell Stage at this year’s Austin City Limits Festival (ACL) in early October. Bands of all genres will have a chance to upload their music, have their fans vote and try and earn a spot on the stage alongside the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Sonic Youth, Phoenix, Mos Def and Passion Pit. Last year’s winner, The Steps, released and album this year and went on tour in support of it. ACL takes place October 2-4 in Austin, Texas.

Think your band has what it takes? Here are the official rules, and good luck!

How It Works
Round One is live now and bands can upload their music at The Dell Lounge to enter the competition. To stay in the game, bands must generate as many votes as possible to land them in the Top 100 by August 28 and then move on to the next round. From there, a combination of industry judges and fan-voting will narrow down the competition to just five finalists who will perform for a live audience in Austin at Antone’s on September 30. At the end of the multi-round, two-month campaign, one lucky and worthy band will earn a prize spot on the Dell Stage at the ACL Festival.

What’s at Stake
Each of the five finalists will receive $1,500 and a trip to Austin. The winning band will be listed as part of the official lineup and receive an opening slot on the Dell Stage at the ACL Festival. As an official ACL artist, the winner will get artist passes for the entire weekend with access to catering, the artist lounge, and everywhere else bands get to go! The winning band will also receive promotion on delllounge.com, a 15″ Dell Studio laptop, weekend hotel accommodations in Austin, and tickets for some friends the day of show.

New details on “The Beatles: Rock Band”

Rock Band

For the record, I suck at video games. I suck at them for the same reasons I suck at golf. I’m not patient, and if I don’t see myself being the best at a hobby in the imminent future, I’ll abandon it. As someone who’s been playing music since the age of 12, I hated Guitar Hero and Rock Band from the get-go. Playing the guitar was way too difficult as I couldn’t coordinate pressing buttons on my fretting hand with flipping a toggle switch with my strumming hand. I was most content on drums simply because it’s fun to hit things. Nevertheless, after seeing some footage and scoping out the game’s track list, I might have to force a friend to buy The Beatles: Rock Band.

How cool is this? You can perform “Twist and Shout” in Liverpool, “Can’t Buy Me Love” on the Ed Sullivan Show, even “Eight Days a Week” at Shea Stadium. The detail is amazing and spot on as it matches their style of dress, the imagery, and the venues they played specific to an era. Apparently, the game will include unreleased banter from the Beatles’ recording sessions.

In addition to the new trailer, the full video for “Ticket to Ride” as performed by the in-game Beatles at the digital Shea Stadium has also been posted on the game’s official Website. As Rock Daily reported last week, The Beatles: Rock Band will also unearth previously unreleased audio and studio banter from the Beatles, as well as a “story mode” that gives the back-story of the band’s songs. The Beatles: Rock Band will be released September 9th, the same day the Fab Four’s entire remastered catalog is reissued.

As per the the video game blog Worth Playing, a track listing has surfaced. Harmonix and MTV Games have since confirmed that the 44 songs listed after the jump are accurate. However, one more song will be included that neither source is revealing.

Singles:
“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
“I Feel Fine”
“Day Tripper”
“Paperback Writer”
“Revolution”
“Don’t Let Me Down”

Please Please Me:
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“Boys”
“Do You Want To Know A Secret”
“Twist and Shout”

With the Beatles:
“I Wanna Be Your Man”

A Hard Day’s Night:
“A Hard Day’s Night”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”

Beatles For Sale:
“Eight Days a Week”

Help!:
“Ticket To Ride”

Rubber Soul:
“Drive My Car”
“I’m Looking Through You”
“If I Needed Someone”

Revolver:
“Taxman”
“Yellow Submarine”
“And Your Bird Can Sing”

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band:
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends”
“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
“Getting Better”
“Good Morning Good Morning”

Magical Mystery Tour:
“I Am The Walrus”
“Hello Goodbye”

The Beatles (White Album):
“Dear Prudence”
“Back In the U.S.S.R.”
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
“Birthday”
“Helter Skelter”

Yellow Submarine:
“Hey Bulldog”

Abbey Road:
“Come Together”
“Something”
“Octopus’s Garden”
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
“Here Comes the Sun”

Let It Be:
“Dig a Pony”
“I Me Mine”
“I Got a Feeling”
“Get Back”

Love:
“Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows”

I would have left off the Love mash-up since the Beatles never performed it in their career. Not that the Love album isn’t cool, but the whole purpose of the game is to play as the Beatles, not to a recording that was made years after they broke up. Nevertheless, I think most Beatles purists — albeit the younger ones who are likely buying this game — can all agree that this is pretty solid track list. But where’s “Please Please Me,” their first hit single? And “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl”? What, no “Strawberry Fields Forever”? OK, I’ll stop.

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