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Items by By BEN SISARIO

NYT > Arts

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  Music: College Radio Maintains Its Mojo

  Posted: December 7th, 2008, 4:03am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  In the age of blogs and MySpace, college radio enjoys less influence than it once had, but music industry insiders say student stations still help to break new acts.
  
  
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  A Piece of Cleveland With a New York Accent

  Posted: November 21st, 2008, 4:49am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Hundreds of artifacts are being prepared for the opening on Tuesday of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, a $9 million branch of the Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.
  
  
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  Now That’s What I Call Marketing: Pop Hits and More

  Posted: November 12th, 2008, 5:41am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  “Now That’s What I Call Music!” has been a reliable blockbuster for 10 years by sticking to a simple, recognizable brand.
  
  
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  With Software, Artists Put Yet Another Spin on the Presidential Debates

  Posted: October 7th, 2008, 6:06am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  For members of Sosolimited, remixing presidential debates is an act both of political engagement and mischief.
  
  
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  Nappy Brown, 78, Blues and R&B Singer, Is Dead

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 6:59am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Mr. Brown’s playful songs of the mid-1950s — filled with nonsense syllables, eccentric pronunciation and a heavy beat — had touches of early rock ’n’ roll style.
  
  
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  For Record Companies, Optimism Isn’t Irrational

  Posted: September 25th, 2008, 4:39am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  The music industry is hoping an old truism will hold: that as a relatively low-cost commodity with sentimental attachments, music will prove recession-proof.
  
  
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  Arts, Briefly: Nominees for Latin and Country Music Honors

  Posted: September 11th, 2008, 5:51am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Nominees for the Latin Grammy Awards and the Country Music Association Awards were announced on Wednesday.
  
  
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  The Marathon Man of Pop

  Posted: August 12th, 2008, 5:16am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Four decades into a career as the sequined king of soft rock, Neil Diamond is enjoying something of a career renaissance.
  
  
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  Isaac Hayes, Singer-Songwriter Who Defined ’70s Soul, Is Dead at 65

  Posted: August 11th, 2008, 12:40am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Mr. Hayes’s strutting funk arrangements in songs like “Theme From ‘Shaft’ ” defined the glories and the excesses of soul music.
  
  
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  Green-Leaning Festival, With a View

  Posted: August 8th, 2008, 2:17am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  In a summer season crowded with so-called destination rock music festivals, the biggest draw for All Points West at Liberty State Park might be its location.
  
  
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  Neil Young, Where Politics and Technology Meet

  Posted: July 19th, 2008, 2:34am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  A singer explores documentaries, DVD and clean energy.
  
  
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  Nickelback Signs Up With Live Nation

  Posted: July 8th, 2008, 1:19pm GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  By signing the Canadian rock band, Live Nation took another step toward expanding its role at the center of the music industry.
  
  
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  Arts, Briefly: Shakira Leaves Record Company for Live Nation

  Posted: July 2nd, 2008, 7:38pm GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Shakira has become the latest pop star to leave the major record companies for Live Nation.
  
  
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  Montreal’s Poet Son Heralds Its Festival

  Posted: June 28th, 2008, 5:25am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Three concerts presented as preludes to the Montreal International Jazz Festival paid tribute to Leonard Cohen, the 73-year-old hometown poet-hero on tour for the first time in 15 years.
  
  
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  On Throne, Onstage, Online and on Cellphone

  Posted: May 2nd, 2008, 4:07am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Madonna celebrated the launch of her new album Wednesday night with an intimate show for 2,200 at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom.
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  Arts, Briefly: Free Madonna Show? Only for Die-Hard Fans

  Posted: May 1st, 2008, 3:57am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  The first ones lined up at 10 a.m. Monday. They brought Madonna memorabilia and warm clothes. Some had candy earrings in tribute to their heroine’s new album, “Hard Candy” (Warner Brothers), which went on sale Tuesday. They were outside the Roseland Ballroom on West 52nd Street in Manhattan, and the lucky ones would get free tickets to Madonna’s promotional show there. For this event Roseland had a capacity of 2,200, which by Madonna’s standards is as intimate as a basement club. At 6 a.m. on Wednesday 750 fans received wristbands entitling them to free tickets that night. But by noon a hundred or so still had not left; they just had to be the first to walk inside. “I told my bosses I was going to take four days off,” said Juan Romani, 34, of Pawcatuck, Conn., who was near the front of the line. “When I told them what I was doing, they thought I was crazy. But it’s Madonna.”.
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  Arts, Briefly: Carey Holds at No. 1

  Posted: May 1st, 2008, 3:56am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Mariah Carey’s new “E=MC2” (Island Def Jam), lost 61 percent of its sales in its second week out, but it’s still the No. 1 album in the country. It moved 182,000 copes, according to Nielsen SoundScan, bringing its two-week total to 645,000. Leona Lewis’s “Spirit” (Syco/J) holds at No. 2 with 96,000, and the next three spot holders on the Billboard chart are new. The New Zealand musical-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords is No. 3 with its self-titled album on Sub Pop, which sold 52,000; Ashlee Simpson’s third record, “Bittersweet World” (Geffen), is fourth with 47,000; and the alternative hip-hop duo Atmosphere had the best sales week of its more than decade-long career, reaching No. 5 with 36,000 sales of “When Life Gives You Lemons ...” (Rhymesayers). Down the chart, the country singer Phil Vassar bowed at No. 10 with 27,000 sales of “Prayer of a Common Man” (Universal South).
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  Arts, Briefly: Akon's Rap Sheet Is Revealed

  Posted: April 17th, 2008, 4:46am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Another successful entertainment figure has been accused of fabricating details of a hard-knock criminal life. Only this time it’s not a well-reviewed memoirist but Akon, left, the multiplatinum-selling R&B singer. On Wednesday the Web site The Smoking Gun (thesmokinggun.com) posted a 3,900-word investigation of the star’s criminal record, which Akon — who was born Aliaune Thiam and grew up in Senegal and the United States — alludes to in his music and has boasted about in numerous interviews. Although he claims to have spent more than four years in prison and says his crimes include leading an extensive car-theft ring, the only felony conviction among his six arrests was for gun possession, for which he received three years’ probation, The Smoking Gun reported. And while Akon, who titled his second album “Konvicted,” was arrested in 1998 for possession of a stolen BMW and was held for several months in jail, all charges were dropped, and he was released, according to the Web site. Akon’s representatives at Universal Motown, his label, did not respond to requests for comment.
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  Arts, Briefly: British Singer Tops Chart

  Posted: April 17th, 2008, 2:53am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Leona Lewis, a 23-year-old British singer whose lungs of steel first brought her to fame two years ago on the television talent show “The X Factor,” has earned another prize: No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. Her debut, “Spirit” (Syco/J), was released in the United States last week and sold 205,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That is more than triple the sales of her nearest competitor on the chart, George Strait’s “Troubadour” (MCA Nashville), which moved 59,000. The country singer James Otto bows at No. 3 with 58,000 sales of “Sunset Man” (Warner Brothers). Ray J, whose older sister is the R&B star Brandy, reached No. 7 with 39,000 sales of his new album, “All I Feel” (Koch), and the Christian metal band P.O.D. is at No. 9 with its new “When Angels & Serpents Dance” (Columbia), which sold 34,000. “Now That’s What I Call Music!” Vol. 27 fell one spot to No. 4, and R.E.M.’s “Accelerate” (Warner Brothers) dropped three to No. 5.
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  Arts, Briefly: Danity Kane on Top of Charts, Again

  Posted: March 27th, 2008, 4:12am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  The MTV-bred girl group Danity Kane, above, scored its second No. 1 on the Billboard album chart this week. Its new release, “Welcome to the Dollhouse” (Bad Boy/Atlantic), moved 236,000 copies in the United States, Nielsen SoundScan reported. The only other debut in the Top 10 had surprisingly low sales: Flo Rida, the Miami rapper whose song “Low” is the biggest-selling digital track ever, sold only 86,000 copies of his album “Mail on Sunday” (Atlantic) to reach No. 4. The pop compilation “Now That’s What I Call Music!” Vol. 27 is No. 2 with 170,000; Rick Ross’s “Trilla” (Slip-N-Slide/Def Jam), last week’s No. 1, fell two spots with 90,000 sales; and Jack Johnson’s “Sleep Through the Static” (Brushfire/Universal) is No. 5 with 67,000. Also this week, Miley Cyrus became the first female artist since LeAnn Rimes 11 years ago to have two albums in the Billboard Top 10, with “Hannah Montana 2 /Meet Miley Cyrus” (at No. 6) and “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert” (No. 10), both released by Disney.
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  Arts, Briefly: Van Halen Reschedules

  Posted: March 19th, 2008, 2:30am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Van Halen has rescheduled a series of dates on its reunion tour, which has been plagued over the last year by delays and postponements related to Eddie Van Halen’s health. This time the group said only that Mr. Van Halen, right, was undergoing “medical tests.” The tour resumes on April 19 in Las Vegas and continues through June 2 in Grand Rapids, Mich., with performances at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on May 13, and Madison Square Garden on May 23. Tickets for all postponed shows will be honored.
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  Mostly Mozart Festival Plans Lively Summer of Death

  Posted: March 19th, 2008, 2:26am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  This summer Mostly Mozart will die. And transform. Again and again.
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  Arts, Briefly: Summerstage Concerts

  Posted: March 11th, 2008, 4:28am GMT by By BEN SISARIO

  Crosby, Stills & Nash; Mavis Staples, above; the experimental Brooklyn rockers Battles and Black Dice; DanceBrazil; and the Mexican pop singer Julieta Venegas will be among the performers at Central Park SummerStage this year, the City Parks Foundation has announced. Crosby, Stills & Nash will play on July 29 in one of the six paid benefit concerts during this 23rd SummerStage season. The other performances, along with the Afro-funk scion Seun Kuti and the vintage-soul revivalists Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, are free, beginning with Ms. Staples’s concert on June 13. The complete lineup will be announced in April.