Shazamers' Blog

Those of us of a certain age will have witnessed their fair share of boyband battles. New Kids On The Block versus The Backstreet Boys, now formed Chimera-like into the initial-heavy NKOTBSB, duked it out in the States. While on the other side of the Atlantic, Take That and Boyzone grappled for the affections of an hysterical fanbase.

Bringing the story right up to date, we have the ongoing tussle between One Direction and their compatriots The Wanted. One Direction have already scored some big victories, topping charts in both the US and the UK and whipping up their supporters into almost Bieber-esque levels of excitement. So it falls to The Wanted to up the ante with ‘Chasing The Sun’.

To do this, The Wanted have decided to get their rave on. ‘Chasing The Sun’ grabs some glowsticks, daubs itself in neon body paint and jacks its body till the break of dawn. With shimmery, phased piano, a thumping four to the floor stomp and the requisite euphoric breakdowns, the song has its sights set squarely on the dancefloor.

It’s a move which should see The Wanted cementing their pop position on both sides of the pond, and sets the scene for their forthcoming album. Speaking to Digital Spy, the band’s Jay McGuinness said: “I think because it’s our third album in the UK and our first worldwide that we want to show everyone that we learnt a lot with the first album, with the second one got our stamp on it and our third album want to say, ‘We know what we’re doing now. This is our third album. We’ve done two already, we know how to do it well, and we know how to get it better’.

“I think because we’ve been to America and seen how we’re doing, we can actually make this last for a long time. Like the way Girls Aloud have done. We’re past that point now where we’re worried about being written off. Basically, we could do a record that flopped and the record label would be like, ‘It’s cool’. At the beginning, if the song flopped, we were gonna be dropped. I think we’re past that stage now.”

Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day

Heads-up music fans! The star-studded Billboard Music Awards are this Sunday, and you can use your Shazam App to tag the show ANYTIME to

• Download an exclusive FREE remix of Ushers’ new single “Climax”, off his new album “Looking 4 Myself”, available everywhere 12 June
• Join the conversation with live social media feeds from Billboard insiders and other celebs
• Get instant access to the nominee list in all the major categories and links to buy their music
• Keep track of the artists performing live so you don’t miss a minute of the action

Tune into the Billboard Music Awards this Sunday, May 20 at 8pm /7PM Central on ABC. You’ll spot the Shazam Prompt on-screen as a reminder the show is Shazam-ready!

LeeMc News

It’s now less than 7 days until Ibiza’s clubs open their doors, a move that sees the Island transform overnight from a sleepy Spanish enclave to the world’s summer party capital. Spearheading Ibiza’s grand-opening is the International Music Summit, a music conference that attracts the great and the good from the world’s electronic music scene. Combing panels and business meetings with exciting club events: IMS is quickly establishing itself as a must attend event for anyone looking to make moves in the world of EDM. Confirmed speakers already include industry legends the like of Nile Rodgers, Diplo, Paul Oakenfold and Will.i.am – a man whose shift from rap to dance music is defining popular culture.

“Hip-hop culture doesn’t feel alive like dance culture feels” says Will.i.am in a statement about IMS. “This dance culture actually feels more like hip-hop than what they’re saying hip-hop is. This dance culture actually is the sprit of what hip-hop is — it just has a different title. But because hip-hop went in this other direction of gun-toting and drug-slinging, all the other stuff – entertainment, fun, the concept of music and hearing beats and inspirations and fusion and collaboration – they forgot that this is hip-hop. So I was like, hip-hop is dead. F*** this s***, I’m going here.”

As you might imagine, the event is not all business without pleasure.  There is a selection of music events that form the basis of Ibiza’s first club nights of the year. Taking place in some of the Island’s most legendary spaces, including the glamorous Pacha nightclub and Dalt Vita, one of the Island’s most iconic and ancient landmarks.

Acts performing at these events include David Guetta, Seth Troxler and Azari & III to name only a few

For full info please go to the IMS website:

http://www.internationalmusicsummit.com/events

Stephen Titmus News

An upcoming biopic of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix is reportedly due to start shooting in less than a month, with Outkast frontman André 3000 set to play Hendrix. The film – titled All Is By My Side – is currently in pre-production, according to the Irish Film and Television Network, who report that André is about to spend six weeks on location shooting the film in Ireland (in Bray, Dun Laoghaire and Dublin, locations to include the historic John Player Cigarette Factory). Ireland is set to double for cities London and New York, as the film will cover Hendrix’s breakthrough in 1966 after being discovered in a New York club.

All Is By My Side will be directed by John Ridley (writer of Three Kings). Ridley also wrote the screenplay for the Hendrix film. It’s not the first time a Hendrix biopic has been proposed over the past few years, but so far the Jimi Hendrix estate have blocked all attempts to retell the singer’s story on celluloid. And they aren’t exactly on board with this one either – on 10 May, Experience Hendrix LLC issued a statement on the film saying that it would not include the musician’s classic recordings:

“Various media outlets have recently published accounts that indicate a feature length Jimi Hendrix biographical film is nearing production,” says the statement. “Experience Hendrix, LLC, the family-owned company entrusted with safeguarding the legacy of Jimi Hendrix and administrator of the Jimi Hendrix music and publishing catalog has made it known many times in the past that no such film, were it to include original music or copyrights created by Jimi Hendrix, can be undertaken without its full participation.”

Despite that, the estate haven’t completely put the brakes on the being involved with a film starring André 3000 (or any other another actor): “Experience Hendrix CEO Janie Hendrix, sister of Jimi Hendrix, and the EH board have not ruled out a “biopic” in the future, though producing partners would, out of necessity, have to involve the company from the inception of any such film project if it is to include original Jimi Hendrix music or compositions.”

André 3000 (real name André Benjamin) has already appeared in films (like Guy Ritchie’s Revolver, as well as the 2006 Outkast ‘musical’, Idlewild). Do you think he’ll make a convincing Hendrix?

Helia News

Stephen Titmus Shazam New Release Chart UK Rudimental

Stephen Titmus Shazam New Release Chart USA Maroon 5

You have to admire Linkin Park’s longevity. They sprang up alongside bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit and Staind around the turn of the century, when nu-metal was acceptable and correct spelling was actively discouraged. These days, Bizkit’s fortunes are as droopy as their name, while the less said about Korn’s ill-advised forays into dubstep, the better.

Yet Linkin Park are doing an excellent job of keeping the flame alive.  They’re still making electronic-tinged, rap garnished rock, but they’ve been flexible enough to move with the times. ‘Burn It Down’ sees them upping the synth quotient and pushing the guitars back in the mix, building a track that combines their signature anthemic angst with softer, decidedly chart-friendly textures.

Taken from forthcoming fifth album ‘Living Things’, the track demonstrates Linkin Park’s reluctance to repeat themselves. According to the band, it’s something we can expect more of when the LP drops on 26 June.

“Whenever we get in the studio we react really badly to anything feeling like it’s a throwback or a repeat of what we’ve done,” MC Mike Shinoda told Complex. “As long as it feels like we’re taking a step forward it feels good. This record echoes a lot of different random things from what we’ve learned along the way. I think every artist’s ‘new album’ is their favourite one.

“We’ve been immersed in this one for a year. It’s like we are currently in the eye of the storm. All of my focus is on getting this record perfect and presenting it to the fans in the way that I think is the perfect way. It’ll never be perfect, but we just do our best to make it the best it can be. I’m thrilled about the record, I couldn’t be more excited about people hearing it.”

Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Linkin Park

They never burned with the intensity of Nirvana or had the stadium crushing anthemic nous of Pearl Jam, but Soundgarden were nonetheless one of the biggest bands in what we are contractually obliged to refer to as the ‘grunge scene’. Records like ‘Badmotorfinger’ and the quintuple platinum selling ‘Superunknown’ marked them out as a major force, despite a worrying reluctance to use spaces in their album titles.

The band split in 1997, drummer Matt Cameron going on to join Pearl Jam and singer Chris Cornell forming Audioslave with three-quarters of Rage Against The Machine, before Soundgarden came back together in 2010. Beloved bands of the 1990s reuniting for one last squeeze of the cash cow’s udders is becoming increasingly common, so it’s tempting to see Soundgarden’s reformation as a cynical exercise in commodified nostalgia. Thankfully, the emergence of new material confirms that Soundgarden’s motivations are creative as well as commercial

“In the course of playing together in a room, it’s very natural for us to kind of improvise and jam and come up with ideas,” guitarist Kim Thayil told The Brag. “So while we were working on ‘Spoonman’ or ‘Limo Wreck’ or ‘4th Of July’, we’d throw up some other riff and someone else would respond. It became obvious that we had that kind of relationship where we were naturally creative with each other, so we decided that we should commit to making an album. Initially, you walk on tip toes – you’re not sure if people are feeling the same way that you are – but then you get pleasantly surprised when they all feel the same way.”

‘Live to Rise’ is the first fruit of Soundgarden 2.0. Featured on the soundtrack to the ludicrously successful Avengers movie, it cuts a suitably bombastic tone. Kicking off with an unmistakeably Soundgarden-y riff, it shifts into more contemplative, almost power ballad territory. These peaks and troughs make ‘Live to Rise’ an excellent bedfellow for a film that balances lots of quiet talky bits with things going ‘boom’ on a global scale.

Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Soundgarden

On Friday 4 May 2012, the Beastie Boys’ frontman Adam Yauch passed away. Better known as MCA, Yauch was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 when a tumour was discovered in his parotid gland.

Although he underwent surgery and radiation therapy, Yauch never managed to fight off the disease, and although The Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April he was unable to attend due to his health. Yauch’s cancer treatments also delayed the release of the Beasties most recent album, Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2.

The Beastie Boys were originally largely dismissed as gimmicky hip hop when they hit the charts with novelty hit “Fight for Your Right (To Party)” on 1986 debut License to Ill. They responded to this perception with a marked change of direction with their sophmore album, 1989′s Paul’s Boutique. Although this masterpiece was largely ignored at its release, today it is held as a seminal record in the history of modern music.

They went on to become one of the biggest acts on the planet, releasing eight studio albums, winning three Grammys, three MTV Video awards, and selling millions of records across the planet.

As well as being heavily involved in the music, Yauch also turned his hand to moving pictures – under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, he directed iconic Beastie Boys videos including “So Whatcha Want,” “Intergalactic,” “Body Movin” and “Ch-Check It Out.” Under his own name he directed last year’s Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for “Make Some Noise” from Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two (which starred Elijah Wood, Danny McBride and Seth Rogen as the 1986 Beastie Boys, making their way through a half hour of cameo-studded misadventures before squaring off against Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Beastie Boys of the future).

The band have posted a statement on their website in memorial of founder member MCA and his philathropic work: “In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985′s Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.”

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch.

RIP, MCA – and thanks for the memories.

Helia News

Hello

If you want to win some amazing tickets then get ready to use your Shazam App during the commercial breaks of Britain’s Got Talent Final with  Cadbury Unwrap Gold and PepsiMax Shazam-ready Ads.

If you are a fan of this great reality show, watch out for BOTH ad campaigns running this Saturday night during Britain’s Got Talent final, and tag to win these amazing prizes:

• Cadbury “Unwrap  Gold” Ad – for a chance to win a Cadbury VIP experience
• PepsiMax Ad – for a chance to win tickets to some of the best UK Festivals – Wireless, T in the Park, Latitude and more!!!!

So, don’t forget to tune into ITV1 this Saturday, 12^th May, ONLY during BGT final and have your Shazam App at the ready.

Also, make sure you have the latest version of Shazam, for the fastest tagging experience! You can do that here on iTunes App Store, Google Play, Amazon App Store and Getjar.

Happy tagging!

LeeMc News