The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Phoenix joined by R. Kelly at Coachella amid Daft Punk rumours Posted: 14 Apr 2013 08:24 AM PDT INDIO, California, April 14 — Grammy-winning French indie rock band Phoenix headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival yesterday, bringing R&B singer R. Kelly as their special guest on stage amid rumours that French electro duo Daft Punk would join them. Phoenix's lead singer Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai, played a selection of old and new songs against the star-lit backdrop of the festival, held in the desert in Indio, California. The band, which is due to release its album "Bankrupt!" on April 22, sang new songs "Entertainment" and "The Real Thing". It also serenaded the crowd with favorites from its last album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", such as "Lisztomania" and "Fences". Kelly's appearance came as a surprise to an audience expecting to see Daft Punk after a teaser music video by the electronic group was played at the start of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' set on Friday. He joined Phoenix for a mash-up of his hit single "Ignition" with Phoenix's hit "1901". This is the third time Phoenix has performed at Coachella and its first time headlining the annual three-day event. "Our vision of Coachella is that you can never be medium. It's either fantastic or a big catastrophe, we don't like medium things," Mazzalai told Reuters ahead of the band's set. "For us, it's always been an extreme experience. The first time we played was our worst show ever, and the second time was one of our best shows ever, it's either a huge failure or success." After the success of the 2009 album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", which spawned hits such as "1901" and won a Grammy for best alternative music album, Phoenix returned to the studio to record "Bankrupt!". "We have the album of our dreams and there was no compromising at all. In three years, we grew up and we have a different vision, but we're still the same with having total freedom," Mazzalai said. "Bankrupt!" was inspired by the idea of "starting from scratch with a clean slate" and led the band to explore new ideas and themes, he said. DJs get Coachella dancing Los Angeles indie electro-rock group The Postal Service warmed up the crowd ahead of The xx and Phoenix's headline slot. The group, led by Death Cab For A Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, set a mellow and dream-like vibe as darkness fell over the festival grounds. British indie pop band The xx pumped up the tempo with tracks such as "Islands" and featured special guest Solange Knowles, sister of singer Beyonce, performing a cover of Aaliyah's "Hot Like Fire". "It really is a dream come true to be playing the main stage," lead singer Romy Madley-Croft said to the crowd. While rock acts dominated the Coachella line-up this year, festival organisers made sure to include dance acts to stick with their tradition of providing a stage for the growing influence of electronic dance music. Baauer, the 23-year-old DJ behind viral YouTube hit "Harlem Shake", performed early yesterday and made the crowd wait until the end to hear his hit song. "Harlem Shake" has led to a trend in which people make videos of themselves standing still during the first part of the song before breaking into wild, energetic dancing. Italian DJ Benny Benassi was one of the highlights at the Coachella dance tent, with the crowd spilling out as they revelled in his dance-floor tracks. British dance act Hot Chip kept the party going with crowd-pleasers including "Over and Over" and "Ready For The Floor". Rapper 2 Chainz, one of the few R&B and hip hop acts at Coachella this year, performed as did British electro-folk musician Bat for Lashes. British folk artist Ben Howard played a soft set of songs from his "Every Kingdom" album, while the Dropkick Murphys got the audience dancing with their crowd-rousing Irish rock tracks including "Rose Tattoo". — Reuters |
| Psy’s ‘Gentleman’ get 10 million YouTube hits within 15 hours Posted: 14 Apr 2013 12:51 AM PDT  The video for Psy's 'Gentleman' released a day after the song hit online stores worldwide, registered 10.7 million hits in the 15 hours after its debut. - AFP pic SEOUL, April 14 — "Gangnam Style" star Psy's new music video had been watched more than 10 million times on YouTube less than 24 hours after he unveiled his much-anticipated new dance in Seoul, the website showed today. The South Korean pop star yesterday performed for the first time the new hip-swinging dance aimed at replicating the global success of "Gangnam Style" and its famed horse-riding moves in his latest single called "Gentleman". The video, released a day after the song hit online stores worldwide, registered 10.7 million hits in the 15 hours after its debut at a packed concert in the South Korean capital as curious fans flocked to the video-sharing site. It shows Psy, wearing his signature sunglasses, dancing at various locations in and around Seoul including a high-end clothing store, restaurant and swimming pool. The story line features the singer teasing and playing practical jokes on women, such as pulling their chairs away as they are about to sit, before meeting his match. It was the video of "Gangnam Style", and in particular Psy's signature horse-riding dance, that pushed him to global stardom last year after it was posted on YouTube and turned into a viral sensation. A satire on the luxury lifestyle of Seoul's upscale Gangnam district, it has become the most-watched YouTube video of all time, registering more than 1.5 billion views since it debuted last July. The song topped charts around the world, and inspired a horde of online tributes and parodies, as well as flash mobs of thousands of dancing fans in cities such as Paris and Milan. Reactions to the latest electro-dance song were mixed but video—showing the quirky singer's signature self-mocking humour as well as the new hip-swiveling dance—left more fans impressed. "The beat is quite catchy! I'm sitting here shaking my hips side to side even though i have no idea what he's saying," said one Youtube comment. "Mark my words. This WILL be the second video to make it 1,000,000,000," said another commentator, while some others said "R.I.P, Harlem Shake," in reference to another viral hit that swept the world recently. "Gentleman" contains more English lyrics than "Gangnam Style" in a clear nod to the singer's newfound global audience. "Let me tell you about myself. I'm such a charmer with guts, vigour and humour," Psy sings in Korean before launching into the song's English catch-line: "I'm a mother-father gentleman." - AFP-relaxnews |
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