There are a few interesting doings at the iTMS this week. After the jump, we'll talk about new music from Tila Tequila, the Dixie Chicks, and some new Nirvana-inspired playlists.
* Have y'all heard of this Tila Tequila person?
In case you haven't heard of her, Tila Tequila is a "model"-"turned"-"musician" who up-til-now [at least] has been famous more for her racy photos than her music. Tila also is pretty-much the undisputed "most popular" resident of MySpace, with [as of this writing] *1,703,260* "friends".
When she wasn't "practicing celibacy" by "sleeping with" her "sex toy" Jared Leto [insert your own "30 Seconds To Mars" jokes here, please -- Ed.], she was threatening to release a record that would take the world by storm. Unfortunately, she had some trouble getting a record deal -- and I have no idea why, of course -- so there has been a considerable delay.
But on Tuesday, Tila's song finally hit the iTMS. Tila hopes to become the first unsigned artist ever to make it to [presumably] the Billboard Top 20. As Idolator notes, if she quickly can get even 10% of her MySpace "friends" to pony-up $0.99 for the track -- which smartly comes bundled with a free video for the song -- she should make it with plenty of room to spare.
After 24 hours in the store, Tila did crack the iTMS top 100. And as you can see in the graphic above, the iTMS is still pimping her in the masthead. But even though "I Love U" has finally made it past the not-exactly-current "White & Nerdy", she's still languishing at #73, behind such au courant hits as the year-old "Hips Don't Lie" [#71] and "Chasing Cars" [#51] [we're giving Tila a pass on being a full *65 spots* behind "Not Ready To Make Nice"...that whole history-making five-Grammys-in-one-nite thing a few weeks ago, ya know -- Ed.].
So, what do you think? Does Tila Tequila have "the goods" to make it into the Billboard Top 20? Or -- to lower the bar a bit -- the iTMS Top 20?
Do you care?
* And speaking of the Dixie Chicks...
Next to Tila on the masthead is an ad for an "exclusive" Dixie Chicks track, "The Neighbor". Although the track is "new" to the store this week, it was actually written and recorded for the Shut Up & Sing documentary last year.
Striking while the iron is hot is a smart move on the Chicks' part. There's still no word on whether the Chicks plan to break up as previously rumored, but their website still lists only 2006 tour dates -- i.e., no upcoming shows.
Are the Chicks reconsidering in light of their astounding Grammy sweep? Are they waiting to make a decision -- or an announcement -- until after the April 16th CMT [that's "Country Music Television", BTW] Music Awards, where "Not Ready To Make Nice" is a nominee in the categories of Video Of The Year and Group Video Of The Year? The CMT Music Awards are awarded based on fan votes at the CMT website. How the Chicks fare at these awards should give them some idea how "country music fans" feel about them now.
Stay tuned. But in the meantime, pick up "The Neighbor". It's a solid track.
* And finally, "He's the one who likes all our pretty songs..."
I missed this last week, but in a blatant attempt to cash in on on the occasion of the 40th birthday of Kurt Cobain's dead body, the iTMS put together some Nirvana-esque playlists called "Influences", "Contemporaries", and "The Nirvana Legacy".
And apparently, I'm writing copy for the iTMS and didn't even know it!
Here's a description of Everclear's "Santa Monica" from the "Contemporaries" collection:
" "Santa Monica" (Track 2): In many ways the pretty-boy answer to Nirvana was Everclear. What you may find on closer scrutiny is that Art Alexakis was fighting many of the same demons as Mr. Cobain, he just used more bleach. "
"More bleach" -- very clever.
Saturday, March 3, 2007
This Week In The iTunes Music Store [3 March 2007 Edition]
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
BREAKING: Kurt Cobain Still Dead On 40th Birthday
[Image courtesy of Stereogum]
Music bloggers of "a certain age" who are not old enough to worship at the altar of John Lennon are noting that Monday [20 February] would have been Kurt Cobain's 40th birthday. You know, if he hadn't self-inflicted a "head injury" that resulted in his early death.
If Kurt were alive today, he might be celebrating his birthday with a special performance somewhere. If you were in NYC on Monday, you might have been able to see some lame cover bands perform some Nirvana songs in tribute to Kurt [cake-shop.com via gawker.com]. It might have been interesting to hear some of these bands explain to their Hipster audiences songs like "Polly" and "Rape Me".
Some of the things Kurt Cobain would NOT be doing if he were alive on his 40th birthday:
* Kurt would not be like Kenny Chesney, pretending not to be gay in an interview with the pretending-not-to-be-gay Anderson Cooper while cooped [ah, pun not intended -- Ed.] up with Coop in a gay box [headline of the day -- "Hick In A Box" -- Ed.].
* Kurt would not be like David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen & "Van Halen", pretending to reunite with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic and then pulling-the-rug-out-from-under Nirvana fans hoping to pay $200+ bucks to hear "Drain You".
* Kurt would not be like Sting & "The Police", pretending to reunite with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic and then playing the lute and yadda, yadda, yadda....
* Kurt would not be like Axl Rose, teasing fans for over ten years about the release of his group's next album.
and finally...
* Kurt would not sell himself out to CSI:Miami or Starbucks.
*****
In honor of Kurt, I leave you with two awesome tracks. "The Man Who Sold The World" is from Nirvana's almost-final performance on MTV's Unplugged just prior to Kurt's death. "Territorial Pissings" is from Nirvana's breakthrough album, Nevermind.
Nirvana [unplugged] - The Man Who Sold The World [mp3, via YSI]
Nirvana [unplugged] - The Man Who Sold The World [mp3, via zShare]
Nirvana - Territorial Pissings [mp3, via YSI]
Nirvana - Territorial Pissings [mp3, via zShare]
*****
And just for grins, I leave with you a track from [Courtney Love's] Hole's Live Through This. One of the worst-kept musical secrets from the early 90's was that Kurt Cobain ghost-wrote Live Through This. [Wha??? You don't believe me??? Puh-leeze! Compare any track on Live Through This with any track from either Pretty On The Inside or Celebrity Skin, and get back to me.]
Hole - Doll Parts [mp3, via YSI]
Hole - Doll Parts [mp3, via zShare]
