In need of a soundtrack for today's scorching weather?

I am beyond excited that my Thursday afternoon is going to include listening to the music from Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby," which hits theaters May 10.

NPR's First Listen has commentary on the "Gatsby" soundtrack, where you can stream the entire album or individual songs. I'm 13 minutes into the album and loving it, and totally getting excited for the movie's release next week.

Big thanks to @BriReagan for tweeting this.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Photo by The Associated Press

I've really fallen in love with Mumford & Sons' "Babel," so I was happy to see it take home the Album of the Year Grammy Award last night. In the past couple of months, "Babel" and the group's 2009 album "Sigh No More" have been in quite heavy rotation in my iTunes library.

Last night during the Grammy Awards, Mumford & Sons performed "I Will Wait":


That song — and "The Cave" — are what drew me to the group, but my current favorite songs are "Not With Haste" and "Ghosts That We Knew" from "Babel," and "After the Storm" from "Sigh No More." Check those out below:

"The Cave":



"Not With Haste":



"Ghosts That We Knew":



"After the Storm":



(Confused about the big awards from last night? Check out this explainer for the difference between Song, Record and Album of the Year, and also the list of the 2013 Grammy Award winners.)


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

In case you totally missed what was popular with popular music in the year 2012, you can catch up in 8 minutes with the Pop Danthology 2012, which somehow combines more than 50 songs into a totally listenable track.



Be sure to pay attention to the text across the bottom of the video, where you can learn the name of the the songs being used in case any of the music or lyrics catch your ear.

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I did not know that Mariah Carey's Christmas classic "All I Want For Christmas is You" could be improved — and apparently IT COULD BE AND IT WAS.

Thanks to "Late Night," Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, toy instruments and some adorable children for making what might be my new favorite Christmas video:



-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Software gets updated all the time, and we all get those notifications now and then that an update to Apple's iTunes for our computer is available.

If you're like me, you put those updates off. They can take awhile, and, after all, iTunes was working just fine, right?

Today, however, I jumped at an update  -- even before my computer could notify me one was available. This is the much-talked-about, slightly delayed iTunes 11.

With all the updating you've done, can you remember the last time iTunes actually looked different? It does now. That, in itself, is interesting.

But the update is more than superficial. For one thing -- and this is hardly surprising -- Apple is trying to shove the iTunes Store in your business a lot more. It's much more prevalent.

That may be a little annoying (it's getting harder and harder not to spend money while you're sitting at your computer isn't it?), but I LOVE another new feature. The update includes an improved queue that lets you see the next several songs iTunes is going to play. You can move them around, and, more importantly to me, you can go into your library and tell it to put any song into the slot following the song currently playing. I'm forever thinking of a tune I'd like to hear but needing to wait until the current song is done before playing it, assuming I'm enjoying the song playing. (It's a first-world problem, I realize.)

Those of you concerned about privacy and targeted advertising probably want to be aware of an option when you're installing the new iTunes. It will ask if Apple can have access to your library to provide photos or some such thing. It's probably a way to figure out things to suggest you buy, but I went along with it. I'm all in, baby.

Here's a screen grab from my computer. This is iTunes 11 in the album view. As you can see, it's opened the third album from the left in the top row to reveal the tracks, showing the cover art to the right. Above, slightly right of center, you can see the new queue, which you can rearrange and add any time.

I highly recommend watching the optional tutorial video after you've installed the program and before you use it. You'll be able to figure out basic operations without it, but, as with previous versions, some of the more detailed controls aren't all that obvious. It's nice to have the visual guide before you dig in.

-- Mark Meszoros | Entertainment@News-Herald.com | @nhfeatures

It's hard for me to imagine liking a best-of album more than I like "Gold Dust."

In fact, I have fairly intense feelings for Tori Amos' recently released compilation -- or at least a compilation of sorts. Amos -- one of my favorite musical artists -- didn't just take a bunch of her hits and fan faves and slap them together in a traditional best-of album. Instead, she rerecorded those songs.

She didn't just stop there, however. Amos worked with a longtime collaborator, John Philip Shenale, who wrote orchestral arrangements for the numbers, adding orchestration -- or more orchestration -- to them.

As someone who most treasures the songwriters lush, melodic side, I find the results spectacular. The album is loaded with some of my favorite Amos songs, including "Marianne," "Jackie's Strength" and "Winter," done just beautifully. Better, though, is that songs I've liked but never truly loved -- the B-side "Flying Dutchman" most notably -- are very compelling with this treatment. Other highlights include "Programmable Soda," "Yes, Anastasia" and the title track.

I would imagine the criticism one would have for this album is that Amos did not seek to reinvent these songs. They are not greatly reworked but instead highly recognizable. It would be a fair criticism. For me, though, the refining she's done here -- the fresh polishing, if you will -- is just wonderful.

For a longtime fan of Amos, "Gold Dust" is pure gold.



-- Mark Meszoros | Entertainment@News-Herald.com | @nhfeatures

If you like the song "We are Young" by the band fun. and neat videos made utilizing iPhones, check out the video below.



The time and patience it would take to create this video is unfathomable to me. But I'm glad these guys put it together, so I can have the opportunity to watch it in awe and amazement. (Be sure to watch through the end of the video to see the behind-the-scenes look and some outtakes.)


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

DJ Earworm has made a compilation of some of the year's biggest hits to create "United State of Pop 2011 (World Go Boom)". Check out a video of the compilation below:



If you liked that, you can download an MP3 of the mix.

(Truthfully, I like this compilation better than most of these songs on their own.)


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

Last year I found this gem of a video: An a cappella parody of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" performed by The Maccabeats called "Candlelight." It's too good not to share again in celebration of the season (Hanukkah begins at sundown today).



But wait! There's more!

The Maccabeats have a new song: Matisyahu's "Miracle":


Yes, that's an entirely a cappella version of Matisyahu's song. I love these guys.

AND even more reason to love them: The group is encouraging its fans to donate to donate to the Miracle Match Campaign to raise money for Gift of Life, a bone marrow registry to link people with bone marrow transplants. According to the Maccabeats website, the group is "partnering with Gift of Life to raise $80,000 – $10,000 for each night of Chanukah – to make sure that as many swabs as possible can be processed and added to the registry." (The swab is a cheek swab to test if someone is a bone marrow match.) If you're feeling the need to be charitable and like what you heard in the above videos, maybe the Miracle Match Campaign is where you'll make a donation this holiday season.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

If you like what has traditionally been considered good music and aren't much of a fan of today's popular music, you'll be thoroughly depressed by BuzzFeed's 12 Extremely Disappointing Facts About Popular Music.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I know there is no shortage of websites out there that serve to introduce listeners to new music. Popular tools such as Pandora, Last.fm, the Ping tool on iTunes and others have been around for quite a while. And while I'm not dogging any of those (although I'll admit that I have absolutely no experience with Ping), I've found a fun new tool to use.

Musicovery is an interactive tool, more of a toy, really, that allows audiophiles to explore music based on mood, style, artists and more. What makes Musicovery unique and fun is a color-coded map that shows you what you're listening to.

Say you're in the mood for some dark, energetic 80s rock? Well, you can indicate on a clickable graph just how energetic and dark you want your music.

 

The squares you see light up and show a color based on where it falls on the graph. As you scroll over each square, a clip of a song fitting that style will play. You can narrow your choice down by finding a clip to suit your mood.

 

Once you narrow down the mood you want, you are brought to the above screen where you will see the songs Musicovery has selected for you. From here you can narrow it down to different genres and years--for example, jazz from the 50s.

You can also choose to hear hits--popular bands and songs most people will know--or discovery. If you unclick hits and choose just discovery, you're more likely to find an obscure band you can learn to love.

As you listen to music, you have the option to "favorite" songs to come back to later, or search for the songs or artists on iTunes or Amazon.

In essence, it's just another music searching site. What I like about it, really, is the colorful interface, the fun addition of searching by mood and the ability to narrow things down to find more obscure music you might not hear on Pandora.

The service is free or subscription-based. I feel no need to subscribe to services like this, but I've read in other reviews of Musicovery that the music quality is better if you pay, which is to be expected.

--Danielle Capriato
DCapriato@News-Herald.com

DJ Earworm has mashed up the Top 25 Billboard songs of the year into one big pop song. He says this year's music was "all-out party mode," encouraging people to keep having fun:

It’s a great thing about music that you can leave your worries and lose yourself in the moment. In our current world of dance pop culture fantasy, this takes place at a club, where you can drink, meet the most amazing person you’ve ever met, and where as Ke$ha says, “the party don’t stop”.

Visit his website to listen to and download the mashup, or click on the video embedded below to watch it.




-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

Today we're taking a break from the Christmas countdown to share the spirit of Hanukkah, throwing latkes in the air and spinning dreidels.



-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

Come together, twist and shout, because The Beatles are available for download on iTunes.

Is this cause for celebration?

I'm more or less indifferent about the announcement. I own several Beatles albums and can't see myself downloading any that I don't have. I'm someone who prefers the packaging of a CD case when buying music from my favorite musicians. I figured that at this point -- nearly 50 years after The Beatles hit American shores -- that most people have been exposed the music through living through the 1960s and 1970s, or through listening to their parents' albums. I assumed that saying you liked The Beatles was akin to listing your interests on Facebook as "music," "hanging out" and "family and friends." Maybe I'm just projecting my own childhood onto the rest of America.

I was talking with a few of my co-workers about the Beatles-iTunes announcement to see if others had the same ho-hum attitude I did. Business Editor Brandon C. Baker surprised me when he said he didn't have any Beatles music and was happy for the opportunity to explore it via iTunes. He recalled one evening over the summer when I had friends at my house to play a spirited game of Beatles Rock Band. Brandon said he didn't know many of the songs we rocked out to and tried to search for them on iTunes -- with no success.

My assumptions about people's access to The Beatles was clearly wrong. And maybe all the kids out there who are exposed to music only through the Internet, social media and iTunes will form a new Beatles audience. Or, perhaps fans who have records, cassette tapes and damaged CDs will look at this as an opportunity to buy good, digital versions of their favorite songs.

(And if you don't have any Beatles music, $149 for all of the band's studio collections [titled The Beatles Box Set] seems like a pretty good deal to me.)

Coverage of the decision via The Associated Press can be viewed here, and read more about the agreement here.


-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

P.S. Addendum: I don't condone illegal downloads, but this graphic representation of whether one should buy Beatles music on iTunes more or less follows the train of thought I had when I heard about the announcement. I just figured most people had the music or could easily borrow it from the library, friends or family.

Hi, my name is Danielle, and I am a Gleek.
I’m not afraid to admit it, either. I love “Glee.” It’s one of two shows--the other is “House”-I make sure to catch on Hulu as soon as they become available since I miss them because of my work schedule. I listen to the soundtrack-and pretend to have enough vocal talent to sing along-while jogging, cleaning, and on long road trips. Who am I kidding, I’ll even listen to the soundtrack on short road trips, like on my 10 minute drive to work. I’ve been counting down the days until the premiere of Season 2 Tuesday.
I can’t wait.
I know I’m not alone. Considering the acclaim the show has received since its debut, having been nominated for 42 awards and winning 13 (including four Emmys and a Golden Globe!) for its first season according to imdb, nobody can deny the show is a hit. And with good reason.
Not only does the show feature amazing musical arrangements, hilarious dialogue and an amazing cast of young, talented actors, but it calls attention to some more serious issues as well.
There’s Kurt Hummel, the gay student who is not only struggling with his crush on football-hunk-turned-singing-sensation Finn Hudson, but is also trying to maintain a healthy relationship with his father (Mike O’Malley in what is possibly his most amazing role ever as Burt Hummel) and is dealing with his father’s relationship with Finn’s mother.
There’s Artie Abrams, the only disabled member of the glee club, who dreams of someday being a dancer even though he is confined to a wheel chair.
There is Quinn Fabray, the cheerleader-turned-ostracized-teen-mom who was disowned by her conservative father after she became pregnant.
And even self-obsessed star-wannabe Rachel Berry, who discovers her mother is the coach of the glee club’s rival show choir and wants nothing more but to cultivate a relationship with her even though it’s seemingly too late, is not able to avoid a heart-wrenching moment or two between scenes of her annoyingly charming and over the top attitude (and, let’s face it, her stand-out vocal abilities that make me wish I was more musically gifted).

This upcoming season promises more of what gleeks have come to expect and adore about the show: namely big musical numbers and amazing guest stars (John Stamos-as the love interest of the CUTEST guidance counselor IN THE WORLD, Emma Pillsbury—and Britney Spears, to name a few). Oh, and don't forget the absolutely hilarious dialogue from Sue Sylvester.
Other things to look forward to (Caution: Spoilers ahead!)

• A new foreign exchange student, Sunshine, will join the club and act as Rachel's rival.
• There will be a Rocky Horror Picture Show episode.
• Finn and Rachel will be in a relationship for the entire season.
• Nationals this year will be in New York. And, it goes without saying that we wouldn't even know that if we weren't rather confident the McKinley High glee club was going to make it that far in the year's competitions!
• Sue is getting a new rival in the form of a female football coach.

I'm pretty darn excited for the start of season 2, folks. The season starts Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Fox with an episode titled "Audition."

Anybody else out there as big of a gleek as I am?

-Danielle Capriato
DCapriato@News-Herald.com

I'm glad I got to share this news before Staff Writer Nick Carrabine (and frequent music blogger) got to it.

Are you ready for THE concert tour of all concert tours??!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!???!?!!?!?


I'm talking, of course, about the news that Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block are working to team up for a concert tour in 2011!!!!!

The 13-year-old me just fainted.

Next year is going to be quite a big year for 20something ladies, what with the release of Sweet Valley Confidential and now this tour. If Jonathon Taylor Thomas and Matthew Lawrence get together for a movie in 2011, we would have quite the trifecta of young girls' dreams come true (if only 10-15 years late).

(Should I be embarrassed to admit that I giggled at the idea of the above paragraph? And embarrassed to add that on Twitter tonight I said I wanted to see "Melissa & Joey"? I mean, come on, it's just like a 2010 version of "Who's the Boss?", right?)

The E! Online article linked above notes planners are looking for a third band and Boyz II Men is at the top of the list. I suppose if they want the tour to have three boy bands then that's the one to get, but I think the tour would kind of be perfect with just the two. At least, those are the two that I would most want to see in concert together.

Next major question: Who is the headliner in this act? My co-worker Danielle Capriato immediately says NKOTB. I can't decide which boy band would better end the show. It's even tough to say which one is considered bigger -- at the height of their popularity, at the present, or overall. Regardless, I have a feeling the concert will be amazing. It can't not be when you put together such powerhouse entertainers. I have a feeling the concert will be a lot like this June show at Radio City Music Hall, and I really hope I get to go:



Photos by The Associated Press

-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

When I was 12, I was obsessed in love with the band Hanson -- catch melodies, long blond hair and all. I listened to their 1997 album "Middle of Nowhere" on repeat endlessly.

I'd like to pretend that I still don't think they're great, but that would be a lie. Their Christmas album is still part of my holiday music rotation. I went to their concert at Cleveland's House of Blues in September 2007, and I'm totally considering their return there this summer (details and other concerts on John Benson's summer concert preview).

So maybe it should come as no surprise that I was immediately smitten with the group's new single and video when I first saw it a few weeks ago. I watched it a few times in a row, then played it on repeat while I was writing a paper for grad school.

Things to love about this video:

1. Catchy music
2. Choreographed group dance
3. Cute children dancing
4. WEIRD AL YANKOVIC PLAYING THE TAMBOURINE

There's also some sort of reference to Blues Brothers that I don't get because I've never seen the movie, but I'm told it has something to do with shaking one's tail feather.

I don't love this music video just because I want to marry the Hanson brothers. Several other non-Hanson fans have enjoyed it, so I think you should watch it too:


Thinking 'Bout Somethin'

HANSON | MySpace Music Videos


-- Cheryl Sadler
CSadler@News-Herald.com

Editing on this video is actually pretty fantastic. You will laugh at this -- or at least get the song in your head the rest of the day.