September 11: How Music Responded
Long Read of the Day: We wrote earlier today about the music that people listened to after the events of September 11 occurred, but before they had any effect on recordings. Over at MTV Hive, five pieces explore what those effects turned out to be for pop, country, indie rock, rap, and dance. [MTV Hive]
Coldplay Share Cover Art And Final Tracklisting For New Album
Coldplay posted the details for Mylo Xyloto, due out October 25, on their website this afternoon. Also, each track has its own little pictogram. (The symbol for “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall”? A teardrop.) [Coldplay.com]
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Poor little Avril Lavigne. Everything was going so well for her on New Year’s Eve. With her highlights newly hot-pinked and her husband on her arm, Avril attended Prive’s New Year’s bash, where crunkalicious rapper Lil Jon was DJing. With Avril booked to call the countdown, things were looking good for the self-proclaimed “motherf*cking princess.” Disaster struck when Lil Jon decided to do his own countdown, drowning out Avril and sending her into a tailspin. “I wanted to do the countdown!” Avril reportedly cried to hubby Deryck Whibley. 
Take the infectious cheer-squad shout of Toni Basil‘s “Mickey,” add some glean from chart-topping uber-producer Dr. Luke, and write lyrics directed at the most tech-savvy market in the country (14-year-old girls) and you’ll understand why Avril Lavigne‘s “Girlfriend” was her highest ranking single to date. Avril’s fans forgave her her newly wedded status and bought her barbed entreaties to an already attached guy to ditch his girlfriend (never has “She’s like, so whatever,” sounded like such a compelling argument). During the verse she rarely deviates into tune, sticking with her bratty schoolyard chants and marrying mall punk guitars with positively jubilant pop. All handclaps and sass, the video has Avril pulling triple-duty, playing her blonde self, a boyfriend-stealing brunette and a red-headed prude. While the message of the song is far from female empowerment, it seems she’s finally embraced a less abrasive side, making the unabashed pop music she’s faulted others for in the past.
Ya gots ta be multi-format these days, and there was no better example of video aiding and abetting audio than this ATL kiddo’s uber-ubiquitous, ultra-catchy dance anthem. His MySpace page was thick with how-to clips (please, don’t mess up the Superman section) and messages from trillions of fans. YouTube was loaded with tributes and satires, from yarmulke doo-rags to Santa’s elves gliding to the groove. So, yeah, DeAndre Ramone Way wasn’t fibbing when he said his reach stretched “from the Internet to Main Street.” There’s glory in one-hit-wonderville, and even though one Web commenter rightly declared that Soulja Boy blabbered “on the mic like he just woke up,” the song of the summer (sorry, Rihanna) proved to be a bubblecrunk gem.
