I’ll admit-I sort of have a mancrush on Mike Doughty. The former Soul Coughing frontman-turned singer/songwriter/electronic musician/DJ/author/blogger has a certain relatability that actually seems to be quite prevalent among his generation’s spate of singer/songwriters. Anyway, Mike’s current album “Sad Man Happy Man”, which was released late last year, is quite a treat, as is the first video from the album-“(You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified)” (Mike is apparently a big fan of the parentheses, as am I). He shot the video in Cambodia (not the world’s most common video-shooting spot), and I think I can safely say that this video is the closest I’ll ever get to Southeast Asia. AOL spinner premiered the video yesterday, and we have it here for you today.
Category: News
music-news-from-breakups-to-the-lastest-buzz
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Cowell Quits
Multiple sources, none more important than the man himself, confirmed today that Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol after this season, which starts Tuesday.
Cowell is regularly chastised for his heavy-handed treatment of contestants on the popular singing show, but is also routinely recognized as the most accurate judge.
Sonic Clash readers shouldn’t dig too deeply into the tea leaves on this one. The 50 year old music magnate is the executive producer of the wildly popular show The X Factor, a phrase he tries to insert into Idol commentary every so often. His Idol contract included a non-compete clause and when Cowell couldn’t get traction on having that clause waived, he announced he would let his contract lapse and bring an American version of The X Factor to Fox.
As with most things, Cowell’s decision appears to be financially influenced. As the defacto star of American Idol, Cowell’s compensation is lucrative, but nowhere near as lucrative as executive-producing his own show. We see this same trend in bands all the time. The band members who write the songs make more money — a lot more money — than those who only perform.
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First Look: “Soldier of Love” by Sade
Sade’s new album is running neck and neck with the new one from Vampire Weekend (out tomorrow) as my most anticipated album of 1st quarter 2010. Sade always brings the goods, and after a ten-year gap between albums, let’s just say we’re salivating for new work from the British band.
A month or so ago, I premiered their new song “Soldier of Love”, and now the video has premiered. This is certainly the first Sade video I can remember with choreography, but the video fits in with the militaristic metaphors strewn throughout the song. Also worth noting is the fact that Sade (the woman) looks as good as she did twenty-five years ago!
Anyway, check out the video and let us know what you think.