2011 American Music Awards nominees announced

Adele

The 2011 American Music Awards nominees were announced Oct 11. Leading the group with four nominations is Adele. Other nominated artists include, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, The Band Perry, and Lil Wayne each have three nominations to vie for. Following close behind are LMFAO, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Kanye West, each receiving two nominations.

Soundscape Signals: Uncovering the Cover

Elvis

These days cover artists don’t carry the same stigma like they once did as gaudy entertainers. Artists like Alien Ant Farm and Limp Bizkit were first introduced to us via covers – springboards that catapulted them into the public eye that are now haunting them like a tailgating fiend. To simply say covers are launching pads to the indie artist, or that covers are the ingenuity of lazy musicians, is very unfair. When the issue of covers and samples get fettered around idle table talk, emotions rise and the conversation immediately gets heated.

Soundscape Signals: The State of Music Journalism

War of the Worlds

When NPR’s Frannie Kelley discovered that the press release she received wasn’t your run of the mill publicity news, she did a bit of investigating and came up with some conclusive findings over the state of music journalism today. From Chuck Klosterman, the author of Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs to Robert Hilburn, author of Corn Flakes with John Lennon and a music critic as well as a close look into how bad reviews literally broke Keats, read on to find more about the state of music writing today.

2011 MTV’s VMA Award Highlights

VMA

Highlights of MTV’s annual VMA Awards Show include, Beyonce Knowles announcing her pregnancy with husband Jay-Z, Lady Gaga who opened the show with an in-character monologue, and then delved into a performance of “You and I” with rock legend Brian May of Queen, and when Tony Bennet, presented a touching video of a duet he recorded with the late Amy Winehouse just weeks before her death.

Kayne West and Jay-Z collaborate on much-acclaimed ‘Watch the Throne’

Kanye West

Rappers Kanye West and Jay-Z released their first collaboration last week. Watch the Throne was released on iTunes only at midnight Monday August 8 most early reviews were glowing. Allhiphop.com gave it 9 out of 10 stars, calling it “a creative victory at worse and at its very best, a paradigm shift for Hip-Hop.” The 12-track Watch the Throne was produced by, among others, West, 88 keys, Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean and Hit-Boy.

Soundscape Signals: Actors who Sing and Singers Who Act and How That Gets Played Out Throughout the Genres

Josh Ritter

What happens when actors who sing and singers who act step outside their comfort zone and crossover? We take a look at singer-songwriter Josh Ritters’ Novel Debut, Ben Folds’ Collaborations and when Radiohead Released Newspaper and The Guardian Covers “Creep” to see how their careers have played out.

Sara Bareilles Exclusive Interview

sb

When three-time Grammy nominated artist, Sara Bareilles, first broke into the scene with her 2007 hit single “Love Song,” which can be found off her major-label debut album, Little Voice, we were all impressed by her range of vocal abilities. The San Diego Entertainer had the privilege of interviewing Bareilles on her journey and her up coming tour with Sugarland.

Weezer Cruise: Four-Day Floating Music Festival Set to Depart Miami Next Year

Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo

On Jan. 19, the first ever Weezer cruise, a four-day floating music festival aboard the cruise ship Carnival Destiny that features live entertainment from the popular rock band Weezer. Joining Weezer for this floating music festival are 15 other bands including Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, Gene Ween, Yuck, Wavves, the Antlers and Free Energy as well as others. Tickets for the event go on sale Aug. 3rd.

Blink-182 Releases New Song, Celebrates With $20 Concert Tickets

Artwork for "Up All Night" single

For the first time since 2003, multi-platinum punk band blink-182 has released new music in the form of its new single “Up All Night,” which debuted last week. The song “Up All Night” has already hit the airwaves, debuting last week on Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM station.To celebrate blink-182 launched a short promotion for its fans. On Saturday, July 16 from 9 p.m. to 12:02 a.m. -exactly 182 minutes- fans were able to log on to blink182.com and livenation.com to score another shot at $20 all-in tickets for upcoming 2011 Honda Civic Tour dates.

Interview with Gavin DeGraw, coming to San Diego July 22

Gavin DeGraw

An exclusive interview with musician Gavin DeGraw in which he discusses his new album, “Sweeter,” due out September 6th, and his upcoming tour, which is set to stop at San Diego’s Cricket Wireless Amphitheater on July, 22.