Dubphonic & other: June 2008

Thursday, 26 June 2008

Steve Mac and Steve Smith

Artist: Steve Mac and Steve Smith

   Genre(s):
House

Discography:

Loving You More (Kurd Maverick Remixes) CDR

Year: 2006
Tracks: 2

Beyonce Knowles Fuels Pregnancy Rumours

Pop hitman takes aim at live show

He's best known as a hit maker but Timbaland is on his way to New Zealand for his very own show. Here's Scott Kara's beginners guide to the man known as the Mozart of R&B
DA MANTimbaland is a stylish and stocky - some might say dumpy - chap and when he's on stage he can yell at you to raise your hands in the air just as skillfully as any rapper worth his weight in bling. The difference between the 37-year-old producer, musician and rapper and other mere mortals of music is that he's a prolific hitmaking machine. A one-man musical force, if you like, who's worked not only with pop stars like Madonna and Justin Timberlake, and some of hip-hop's biggest names including Jay-Z, Nas and Snoop Dogg, but more unusual talents like Bjork and M.I.A..TIMOTHY BECOMES TIMBALANDBack in the early 90s, then little-known Missy Elliot picked up on the talents of Timothy Z. Mosley (soon to be known as Timbaland after Timberland construction boots) - and over the years he has produced much of her work, including her best album Miss E ... So Addictive (2001) and arguably her best song, Get Ur Freak On. However, his first big production hit came in 1996 with the album Ginuwine ... The Bachelor by smooth and silky singer Ginuwine, a shining light of R&B and soul during the 90s.

Then, along with Elliot, he wrote and produced most of the late R&B queen Aaliyah's second album, One In A Million. Before the decade was out he also collaborated with Jay-Z, most notably on the classic track Big Pimpin'. PRODUCTION STYLECatchy, clever and crazy pretty much sums it up. Think shuddering, depth-charged bass beats and unrelenting synth bursts (listen and shake your arse to JT's Sexy Back for one of the best examples).The remarkable thing about Timbaland's productions is how unique and innovative, yet commercially appealing they are - it's scary to think how many records this chap has sold. In fact, there's a line in the Weezer song Pork and Beans that sums Timbaland up. It goes: "Timbaland knows how to get to the top of the charts. Maybe if I work with him I'll perfect the art."GOING SOLOHe has released two solo albums, the latest of which, Timbaland presents Shock Value, has sold more than 30,000 copies in New Zealand, and he's touring Downunder in support of it, although those sales are not exactly Justin Timberlake proportions, whose FutureSex/LoveSounds has sold in excess of 50,000 copiesWith everyone from 50 Cent and Timberlake to rockers Fall Out Boy and the Hives, to Elton John on the album it makes you wonder how he'll pull the live show off. Let's hope it's not another urban/hip-hop show where the crowd are bludgeoned with tiresome heys and hos and not much else. One suspects Timbaland is smarter than that.Now all he needs to do is turn up, unlike the spate of other hip-hop artists who have either postponed or cancelled in the past couple of years. Timbaland plays the Vector Arena on July 18.

The Kooks

Artist: The Kooks

   Genre(s):
Rock
   Other

Discography:

Inside In Inside Out

Year: 2006
Tracks: 13

Hanks Loses Battle With Builder

Oscar winner Tom Hanks has lost a lawsuit against an Idaho builder he claimed messed up renovations on his home in the state. Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson sued the contractor for $2.5 million (Gbp1.25 million) over work done on their $10 million (Gbp5 million) pad in Sun Valley in 2002. But the case has been thrown out of court because the couple had already taken the accused to arbitration in 2003, and lost. Hanks' representative Leslee Dart tells Tmz.com, "Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson intend to appeal the judge's decision. "This is not a petty dispute where Tom and Rita are trying to squeeze money out of a small, local contractor. There are serious design and construction problems that should never have happened, but did, and now need to be fixed."

See Also

Paris & Nicole Ditch Crazy for Lazy

The DUI Sisterhood of Paris and Nicole used to raise hell whenever they went out together -- then the Brothers Madden came along.
Paris & Nicole: Click to watch

The gals had a snoozeworthy double-date in Glendale (of all places) last night, but that didn't stop one of the bros from getting pissy at the paps.

See Also

Kid Rock Explains His iTunes Absence

Kid Rock [ tickets ] is refusing to put his albums on Apple's iTunes store in the US because he says artists do not get paid enough by the Internet retailer, BBC News reported. Rock, one of the last major acts not fully signed up to the service, said iTunes is based on an old system where the retailer takes its money, the record company takes its money and they don't give a fair share to the artists. The Beatles, Garth Brooks and AC/DC are among the few major artists who have still not made their music available on iTunes,.Despite his US boycott, Rock's new single, "All Summer Long," is available on iTunes in Europe, and will be downloadable in the UK soon. He told the BBC his music eventually will be available on iTunes in the US, because he can't avoid it--but for the time being, he will stick to his guns to prove a point he believes in. Rock told BBC reporters he was losing 10-20 percent of album sales by not being on iTunes, but he added, "I've just sold a million records; I'm not really feeling that blow."The only Kid Rock album on iTunes--which recently topped Wal-Mart as the largest US music retailer--is his 1990 debut, "Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast," to which he does not own the rights.

Afu-Ra

Artist: Afu-Ra

   Genre(s):
Rap: Hip-Hop

Discography:

Perverted Monks

Year:
Tracks: 13

Life Force Radio

Year:
Tracks: 17

Body Of The Life Foce

Year:
Tracks: 18

From his 1994 prisonbreak on Jeru the Damaja's "Mental Stamina," Afu-Ra has amalgamated classic East Coast hard-core with the sensible, well-informed pun expected from a committed Rastafarian. He started kayoed a good deal like any other edward Young New York doorknocker, though his rhymes impressed Jeru the Damaja enough to include him on his debut. Becoming a Jeru protÃ©gÃ© (exactly as Jeru had come up with Gang Starr), Afu-Ra appeared on the irregular Jeru album (Wrath of the Math) as well, but affected out on his have for the 1998 single "Whirlwind Thru Cities," an tube favorite. Body of the Life Force, his debut album, appeared in 2000, boasting features for GZA and Cocoa Brovaz. Afu-Ra dependant endorse up with Gang Starr's DJ Premier (who'd helmed quite a few Jeru tracks) for 2002's Animation Force Radio.

Melvins