Tag Archives: album release

Music video: Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Otis” (‘Watch the Throne’ out now!)

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Today Jay-Z and Kanye West (aka The Throne) dropped the music video for Watch the Throne‘s first official single “Otis.” In the Spike Jonze-directed clip the dynamic duo strip down a gorgeous Maybach and ride around in it like they haven’t got a care in the world. And that’s what make this video so great: the guys are having so much fun and the pyro-infused atmosphere is infectious. You can’t help by smile and bang your head to the Otis Redding-sampled beat all the way through. Add some hot models, fireworks, a giant American flag, and ‘Ye’s buddy comedian Aziz Ansari to the mix and you’ve got yourself a care-free joyride that’s truly a blast to watch.

In related Throne news, the highly anticipated album is out! On Monday, August 8 Watch the Throne released digitally exclusively on iTunes. Today the physical version dropped in stores; the standard version can be found in most retail stores that sell CDs, but the deluxe version is exclusively sold at Best Buy through August 22. In a press release the deluxe packaing is detailed:

The DELUXE packaging for “WATCH THE THRONE” is high-end art created by acclaimed designer Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy. The softpack, when opened up, turns into a cross-like shape printed on gold mylar with Tisci’s patterns embossed throughout. The package also includes an 18-panel poster that features Tisci’s artwork as well as lyrics to the entire album. The CD is a special edition black colored disc which is not standard with normal packaging.  In tune with his codes for Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci created an artwork that channels most of his aesthetics: symmetry, lightness, darkness, sharpness and 3D.

MTV reports that Jay and ‘Ye have opened a pop-up store in Manhattan to sell copies of the album today (August 12) through Sunday. The storefront is wrapped in the Riccardo Tisci-designed gold album art and inside you’ll find the Maybach used in the “Otis” music video; you’ll also hear the video since it’s played on a loop. The location is SoHo at 201 Mulberry Street and Jay-Z is expected to make an appearance there tonight. So there’s that.

Want to sample the album before you buy? Spotify’s got it streaming.

Owl City’s ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ out now

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Adam Young’s third studio album is out now! “All Things Bright and Beautiful” features 12 songs from the electro-pop-synth master, including singles “Alligator Sky” and “Galaxies.” iTunes is currently offering the bonus track version which includes all 12 tracks, the aforementioned singles, and “How I Became the Sea.” Pick up Owl City’s new space travel-themed album today; it should join Ocean Eyes, Maybe I’m Dreaming and An Airplane Carried Me To Bed in your growing collection of all things Adam Young.

Bonus! Hop after the break to watch a “making of” video that features Young talking about the process of putting the album together. Continue reading Owl City’s ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ out now →

Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ out now

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After dropping four singles–count ’em “Born This Way,” “Judas,” “The Edge of Glory,” and “Hair“–Lady Gaga’s second studio album is finally in stores now. Two versions exist. The standard version contains 14 tracks, while the bonus track version tacks on an additional eight. On the whole Born This Way is receiving positive reviews. RapUp’s put together a nice review roundup, if you’re so inclined.

Update: Amazon is selling the album for 99 cents. What are you waiting for? This is a steal!

Update 2 (5/30): And just like that the special offer is gone. Still, Amazon is selling the album for less than iTunes at a low $6.99.

The Lonely Island’s ‘Turtleneck & Chain’ now available for hearing

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The Dudes are back. In anticipation of their second studio album (the followup to the incredible Incredibad), the Dudes of the Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer) released wickedly hilarious SNL Digital Shorts like “Motherlover,” “Threw It On the Ground,” “I Just Had Sex,” “Shy Ronnie 2,” “The Creep,” “We’re Back,” and their most recent creation “Jack Sparrow.” You’ll find all of these tracks and more on Turtleneck and Chain, available in stores now. The guest list is insane: Justin Timberlake, Akon, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Michael Bolton, Beck, Snoop Dogg, and Santigold all make memorable appearances.

Two versions of the album exist. The standard version (iTunes) contains 19 tracks. The deluxe version (Amazon/iTunes) packs the 19 songs, adds the bonus track “Reba (Two Worlds Collide) featuring Kenan Thompson,” and nine videos. All but one of the included videos are Digital Short fare, a never-before-seen video for “We’ll Kill U.”

Oh, and there’s one more thing. Should you opt to purchase the album at a local Best Buy make sure you bring this coupon with you. With it for $15.99 you’ll get the CD/DVD package and a super cool and exclusive Lonely Island-branded t-shirt. Or you can use it to get the album itself for a low $7.99.

Now check out a bunch of the album photos in the gallery below, then jump after the break to sing about the adventures of Jack Sparrow with Michael Bolton! It doesn’t get any better than this.

Continue reading The Lonely Island’s ‘Turtleneck & Chain’ now available for hearing →

Matthew Morrison’s solo debut album out now

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Believe it or not, we’ve been following the release of this album since mid-January. And now it’s finally out on store shelves! Everyone’s favorite Spanish teacher has a freshly minted record to call his own. All kidding aside, Mr. Schuester’s Matthew Morrison’s pop-with-substance self-titled album is here and it includes three duets. Morrison collaborated with personal inspirations Elton John and Sting for the tracks “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters / Rocket Man” and “Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot” and Glee guest star Gwyneth Paltrow in “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Snag a copy of the 11-track Matthew Morrison at iTunes.

‘Tron: Legacy Reconfigured’ is Daft Punk’s soundtrack, remixed

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This week Disney released a Tron: Legacy remix album containing remixes of the original movie tracks composed by Daft Punk. Though the electronic duo did not have a hand in putting together this re-release of sorts, many well-known artists contributed to it. The Glitch Mob’s fantastic remix of “Derezzed” is just one of the 15 tracks found on Reconfigured. Paul Oakenfold, The Crystal Method, Moby, Com Truise, and Pretty Lights also took turns at rehashing the original soundtrack. Full tracklist is after the break. Physical/digital copies available at those links. This remix album cannot come close to Daft Punk’s original creation, but for hardcore Tron and electronic dance club music fans this is something not to be glossed over.

In related Tron news, Tron: Legacy is now available on Blu-ray, DVD, and a bajillion other formats. Get home release details here.

Lupe Fiasco’s LASERS out now

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After warring with his record label Atlantic Records, rapper Lupe Fiasco has finally managed to release his third studio album LASERS. The 12-track album features singles Words I Never Said and The Show Goes On. iTunes is selling the record for $10.99 and a $13.99 deluxe version which includes “I’m Beamin'”, the Matthew Santos assisted “Shining Down”, and two music videos (“I’m Beamin’” & “The Show Goes On“). John Legend, Trey Songz, and Skylar Grey are among the featured artists.

Actor Bryan Greenberg’s album releases next week, ‘How To Make It In America’ season 2 in production [Update: Stream single here]

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Bryan Greenberg, the star of HBO’s How To Make It In America, is about to drop his debut album.  It’s called We Don’t Have To Wait Forever and it releases January 18.  It’s being described as “a fresh collection of introspective narratives and soulful ballads” and it features a track called “You Can Run” that features Kid Cudi.  Back in June Cudder dropped by a live Greenberg performance and laid down a freestyle and joined in on the chorus.  In an interview with Complex Magazine Greenberg shares the story:

“I did have one [song] in mind for him and he did it live. He came to my show like a year ago in New York, when I was on tour. He jumped on stage for a little freestyle. When he heard the song he was like, “I really like it and that’s why I’m going to do it.” I was really honored by that. I thought he was going to rap, but he sang. It was cool. He’s really a true artist.”

Looking forward to the second season of HTMIIA?  In that same interview Greenberg talked about what’s in store for Ben and Cam.  “[The show] hasn’t reached the tipping point at all. I’m going back to L.A. next week and we’re going to do read-throughs of the first four episodes. I’m super excited. It’s going forward a couple of months and the business is growing…it’s like, how does this guy become Ralph Lauren? How does it happen? We take if from the street, like early, early sh– to like…that’s the goal, you know? It’s going to take years to develop.”

Preview the album’s lead single “Walk Away” in the video embedded above.  How to Make It In America season 2 is currently in production and is expected to air this summer.

Update: The acoustic-based single “You Can Run” featuring Kid Cudi’s singing voice is now available to stream!  Listen to it below and download it here.

Download: Bryan Greenberg – “You Can Run” (Featuring Kid Cudi)

[audio: Bryan Greenberg – You Can Run (Featuring Kid Cudi).mp3]

Fun fact. The inspiration for the song actually stems from Greenberg’s character Ben from HTMIIA.  “I was kind of writing from the point of view of Ben and being scorned by Rachel and that just being a reason to succeed in life,” he says. “I did notice that a lot of successful people in this world, they always say that it’s about the art or it’s about the work. But when it comes down to it, [what drives them is that] they were made fun of in high school. Or there was a girl that dumped them and they’re trying to get back at them. I was coming from that mentality.”

[Via DatNewCudi; Complex; EW; HipHopUpdate]

Kanye West: ‘Watch the Throne’ coming this week?; unreleased track “Eyes Closed” leaks; The Muppets sing “Monster”; and more

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Ever since Kanye West’s magnificent album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy released on November 22, things have been pretty quiet on the West front.  Besides downloading the holiday-themed G.O.O.D. Friday joint “Christmas In Harlem” and watching a leak of the upcoming “Monster” music video hitting the ‘Net, fans have been sitting idly by rocking out to “Dark Fantasy” in anticipation of another major release dubbed Watch the Throne. It’s a collaborative album between rap gods West and his mentor Jay-Z.  Originally ‘Ye billed it as a 5-track EP but after time he admitted enough tracks would be made to consider it a full-length album.  Sweet music to fans’ ears. So what’s all the hub-bub about it spreading around the Internets today?  Well… at a New Years Eve party in Las Vegas West (drunkenly?) announced, “Watch the Throne, coming in one week!”  So what does that mean?  One of two things, in my humble opinion: (1) The album will come out this week (highly unlikely since Ye’s Def Jam record label has not even confirmed its existence); (2) West was referring to a possible lead single called “Watch the Throne” (highly more likely).  I’ve heard whispers that case #2 is the winner, and the album is looking at a March drop.  Whatever the case, though, something is going down soon so be ready.

Update (1/6): Looks like I was right.  Today ‘Ye posted a Twitpic of the elaborately designed lead single artwork and it’s called “H-A-M.”  The track will drop 1/11/11, that’s next Tuesday.

Side note: The New Years Eve party I mentioned earlier… it took place at Las Vegas’ Marquee Nightclub and so many celebrities made an appearance.  Besides ‘Ye and Jay Z, Rihanna, Diddy, 50 Cent, J. Lo and many others enjoyed the night’s festivities. Click here to browse through a gallery of hi-res photos from the party.  And look after the break to watch some videos from it (one includes ‘Ye screaming the “one week” announcement).

Next up is an unreleased track featuring vocals from West and John Legend.  “Eyes Closed” made its rounds today, spreading like wildfire in an unfortunately tagged now tagless version.  Sources say the track was originally intended to be included on Twisted Fantasy but in the end it didn’t make the cut.  Rumor has it that the West-produced beat will be handed off to Snoop Dogg who will use it (with Legend in tact) for his upcoming record Doggumentary Music, due out March 8.  Preview and download the track below.  If the lyrics sound familiar to you that’s because you’ve heard that before in the BET Cypher video and West’s “Dark Fantasy” track.

Download: Kanye West – “Eyes Closed”

[audio: Kanye West – Eyes Closed.mp3]

This news bit is short but sweet.  Over at Amazon you’ll find a preorder page hyping a “G.O.O.D. Friday [Import]” audio CD.  Is West prepping an album to publicize his free G.O.O.D. Friday tracks?  There better be some bonus tracks or slick artwork and packaging or what’s the point?

Two more things.  Today two video cropped out that are West-related must-sees.  The first features classical vocalist Josh Groban belting out Kanye West tweets, and the other is a Muppets mashup of the Twisted Fantasy track “Monster”.  Yes, Piggie Minaj makes an appearance.  Watch the videos after the break. Continue reading Kanye West: ‘Watch the Throne’ coming this week?; unreleased track “Eyes Closed” leaks; The Muppets sing “Monster”; and more →

Black Eyed Peas’ ‘The Beginning’ out now

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Support the Peas a pick up a copy of their latest album The Beginning.  iTunes offers three versions: the standard CD, a deluxe version that includes three bonus tracks, and that same deluxe version with five popular songs from The E.N.D. You can purchase a physical copy of the deluxe version at Amazon.  I can’t get over how cool that album art is!  All pixelated like that, the Peas never looked better.

Kanye West’s ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ out today

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At long last, Kanye West’s latest and greatest album has released.  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy has been lauded as Ye’s best album to date; in fact, prestigious music review site Pitchfork awarded it a perfect 10 score. Ryan Dombal’s review in which he makes intelligible comparisons between Michael Jackson and Mr. West makes for a great read after you’ve listened to the album in full.  Snag a copy of the album at the links provided below:

iTunes: standard / deluxe // Amazon: standard / deluxe (“See Me Now” is an iTunes bonus track available on both versions.  The deluxe version comes with the Runaway film.  And I recommend the physical copy; the packaging is aesthetically superb.  If you want to learn more about the five interchangeable album covers read this insightful NYMag interview with artist George Condo.)

Upon listening to Twisted Fantasy all the way through without interruption I experienced a natural high; it’s hard to explain but you’ll see for yourself.  It’s easy to be a Kanye West hater since the rapper producer often provides a basis from which things like this will grow.  But in the end, it all comes down to the music.  And I am happy to say with Twisted Fantasy Kanye West delivers on an unbelievably high level.  The man is a perfectionist, and this album reflects that statement.  From top to bottom, it’s a perfect record.