The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
- Star power descends on SXSW finale
- Rock 'n' rail: British transport minister makes album
- Psy: Look out for my new single
| Star power descends on SXSW finale Posted: 16 Mar 2013 07:21 PM PDT AUSTIN, Texas: The 27th edition of South by Southwest (SXSW) inched closer to its finale Saturday with a flock of big-name pop stars descending on the Texas state capital's pulsating beer-and-barbecue fest. Prince, Justin Timberlake and the Smashing Pumpkins were among the most talked-about shows on the final full day of the 10-day festival that celebrates innovation in music, film and interactive technology. All three acts have been booked by major brands - Samsung smartphones, the revamped MySpace website and Red Bull energy drinks respectively - for limited-access parties to promote their products amid the SXSW buzz. Celebrity TV chef Rachael Ray meanwhile hosted her annual open-to-all Feedback party with a raft of musical guests, including current hip hop chart-toppers Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Some 2,200 bands joined the music segment of this year's SXSW, from veteran rockers like Nick Cave, Iggy Pop and The Zombies to breakthrough acts like Britain's Mercury prize-winning Alt-J. Sunday's closing bash features a midnight New York Night Train party with cult New York DJ Jonathan Toubin, who spins exclusively seven-inch vinyl records from the heyday of soul and rock 'n' roll. In a surprisingly thoughtful talk Saturday, rapper and actor 50 Cent - promoting his line of high-end SMS Audio headphones - said branching out into business "has become the new music business" for recording artists. "A lot of the successful artists you see have some sort of connection with other ventures that can generate finances to allow them to have the proper marketing and promotion to continue to sell music," he said. With his childhood drug-dealing days in New York and spats with fellow hip hop artists far behind him, 50 Cent has plenty of dollars invested in energy drinks, with a slice of the profits going to fight hunger in Africa. Success has given him pause to reflect on his legacy, said the 37-year-old who performed at SXSW in 2012 alongside Eminem and whose new album "Street King Immortal" is due out in the coming weeks. "Most people are conscious and would like to live life at the highest level ... and I don't think I want to be around people who don't," said 50 Cent, who has set himself a philanthropic goal of feeding a million people in five years. Meanwhile, the film segment of SXSW wrapped up Saturday with the audience prize for favorite feature going to young director Destin Daniel Cretton's "Short Term 12," which earlier this week took the SXSW jury prize. It stars Brie Larson - who had supporting roles in two other SXSW films on top of a short she directed herself - as a twenty-something supervisor at a home for at-risk teens whose difficult past catches up with her. Best documentary in the minds of SXSW attendees was "The Short Game," in which director Josh Greenbaum and his crew follow the seven-year-olds who compete in the World Championships of Junior Golf in North Carolina. - AFP |
| Rock 'n' rail: British transport minister makes album Posted: 16 Mar 2013 07:18 PM PDT LONDON: Britain's junior transport minister Norman Baker is releasing his debut rock album at the age of 55, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. The Liberal Democrat lawmaker is the lead singer and main lyricist with the Reform Club, a group he originally formed decades earlier. He had thought about cutting an album for 30 years but finally got round to it after writing a list of things he wanted to achieve before he dies. "I've done it now because I thought I should get round to it before I'm too clapped out. That'll be about 10 years hence," he said. He said the album, entitled "Always Tomorrow", was not political. "I wouldn't write a song slagging the prime minister. But I was never going to write about politics. That would be naff," he said. One track was written in 1983 after Baker and the band's guitarist lost their jobs in a music chain store. Another, entitled "Strange Days", has the lyrics: "You were there with your long hair and I was there, or mostly there. That's how it was then, man." Baker's day-to-day duties in the coalition government include responsibility for the railways, buses, taxis and traffic management. - AFP |
| Psy: Look out for my new single Posted: 16 Mar 2013 06:42 PM PDT SEPANG: South Korean entertainer Psy bade goodbye to Gangnam Style in front of over 25,000 partygoers at Future Music Festival Asia at the Sepang International Circuit. "Look out for my new single on April 13. It's an honour to finish off nine months of Gangnam Style in Malaysia," he said. He then treated the crowd to two performances of Gangnam Style, which had recorded over 1.39 billion views on Youtube. Psy, or Park Jae-sung, said he had gotten tired of Gangnam Style and urged fans to look forward to his new single next month. "I don't feel like a human anymore, I'm a horse," said Psy to the crowd. Before unleashing his signature hit, he performed his other tunes Champion and Jump. "Let me show you what kind of singer I am before I put on Gangnam Style." The event also saw performances by pop singer Rita Ora, indie bands Temper Trap, Bloc Party and Grammy winners Fun. On Friday night, 30,000 fans headed to Sepang for a night of electronic dance music. The two-day festival had seen over 55,000 people attending the event. A State of Trance 600 featured performances by deejays Armin Van Buuren and Cosmic Gate. Future Music Festival Asia 2013 is organised by Future Entertainment Australia and Livescape Asia Sdn Bhd and is fully supported by the Malaysian Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) and the Tourism Ministry. Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen earlier expressed her happiness that the event was being held for the second time in Malaysia. "For us in the ministry, this is exactly what we want to see, that Malaysia can host world-class international events," she said. She said such international events would be able to draw foreign tourists to the country to spend. At another function, Dr Ng said efforts should be made to ensure Malaysia remained in the top position, when citing CNN's survey that puts Kuala Lumpur as the fourth best shopping destination in the world. "To succeed is not difficult. But to sustain is tough. "As such, the Government and the private sector need to work together," she said after opening the 1Malaysia GP Sale. The sale is from now until April 7. In conjunction with the sale, two other major events will be held – the Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix from March 22-24 and Malaysia International Shoe Festival from March 28-31. When the ministry first started the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival in 2000, it attracted seven million tourists while shopping only constituted 23.1% of total tourist expenditure, Dr Ng said. However, last year, 25.03 million tourists visited the country and shopping constituted 30.7% of the total receipts of RM60.6bil. |
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