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  • It’s a dreary day in Queens today…

    It’s a dreary day in Queens today. Its rainy, windy and cold, a great day to look forward to the near future. The Yankees have their first home game Tuesday; when the boys of summer are here; you know good weather is on its way. College students across the country are on Spring Break, either spending it in on some drunken beach paradise, or at home with nothing much to do beside go to the mall and get their parents to do several loads of laundry. Many people can feel the warm breezes of summer in their head and before long it will be Memorial Day, the first official beach day of the year. With that in mind, I thought what better thing for me to do then give all you music fans something to look forward to in the weeks before Memorial Day.

    Here are some much-anticipated musical releases coming out in the next 50 days:

    Daniel Powter – Daniel Powter
    You might not recognize the name, but if you’ve watched American Idol, you will recognize the voice. Powter’s #1 hit single Bad Day is all over the radio, but millions of American Idol fans hear it every week on TV. Bad Day is that song you hear during the montage of each Idol contestant’s experience on the show after they get eliminated. This singer/songwriter is hoping you give him a chance and go out and buy his whole album on April 11th.

    Toby Keith – White Trash With Money
    This country music mainstay comes out with his 11th studio release on April 11th, but you can look for something a little different than the pervious ten on this one. This is Keith’s first release under his own label “Show Dog Nashville”. The album is the first since Keith’s ’97 release Dream Walkin’ that’s not produced by Jon Stroud. Will a change in production translate into another in a long line of hits for Keith, or will fans be answering the question he posed with his ’99 album How Do You Like Me Now?! with a big fat “not very much”.

    Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs – Under the Covers, Vol. 1
    The indi-college rocker (Sweet) and Bangles frontwoman (Hoffs), team up on a collection of 60’s-ish covers that range from The Bee Gees’ Run to Me, to The Beach Boys Warmth of the Sun, to The Who’s The Kids Are Alright. The whole album was recorded at Sweet’s California home, and also includes tracks originally done by The Mammas and the Pappas, The Velvet Underground and oh yes, The Beatles. Interesting is the understatement of the year in talking about this calabo that comes out April 18th.

    Bruce Springsteen – We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
    The Boss pays tribute to folk music legend Pete Seeger in this fifteen track, dual disc release that has Bruce covering some of his favorite Seeger songs with a Springsteen twist. Springsteen recorded the tracks with an eclectic collection of musicians to back him up, including Conan O’ Brien house band members Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg and Mark Pender. Noticeably missing, however, was E-Street Band and O’ Brien member Max Weinberg. The Folk fusion album comes out April 25th.

    Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam
    College rock fans rejoice on May 2nd when Pearl Jam releases its first studio album since 2000’s Binaural. While almost all of the early 90’s Grunge-rock bands have faded out, Pearl Jam remains a mainstream reminder of those good ‘ol rainy Seattle days. Pearl Jam has already released the first single from Pearl Jam, World Wide Suicide. The song has the familiar grungy edge that Pearl Jam has nearly patented, but still remains catchy. From all early indications expect more mastery of the art of grunge rock from this most recent release.

    Mobb Deep – Blood Money
    Rappers Prodigy and Havoc, collectively known as Mobb Deep are senior citizen when it comes to the hip-hop industry. They have a number of studio releases under their belts, in addition to countless tracks on mixtapes. Both rappers have given the solo thing a shot but haven’t been as successful as Southern counterparts Andre 3000 and Big Boi. After signing to G-Unit and Interscope records, Mobb Deep makes their first release under 50 Cent’s label on May 2nd. Through industry beefs with heavyweights like Jay-Z, and colaborations with some of the industries top producers these two have the respect of the industry. With that being said, Deep’s latest studio release Blood Money has a lot of hype behind it. Will the rap duo give hip-hop fans more of what they have come to expect under a new label? Blood Money will answer that question.

    Look out for part two of the pre-Memorial Day Music Preview Tuesday.
    COMING NEXT… THE INNAGURAL MUSIC HELP WEB MIXTAPE MONDAY

  • Your Music Help Is Here, But Where Is Eminem’s?

    This is the first ever post by me, Chris, King of the Music Help Web universe. I’m actually a big fan of democracy so for now you can call me the President of Pop Music. Anywho, this is where you can find regular updates on what’s going on in the world of music. As my venture into the world of bloggin’ continues you can be sure look forward to updates on a regular basis.

    Coming this Monday will be the first MIXTAPE MONDAY. Each Monday you can come here and find out about the hottest, must-have mixtapes in the underground hip-hop world. Let Music Help Web guide you through the complicated world of the mixtape, and lead you to ultimate lyrical nirvana.

    Oh but this blog isn’t just about hip-hop, it’s about all music. We’ll take on all things music from rap to rock and even a little bit of country.

    Without further ado…. Today’s whammy by far goes to Marshall Mathers or for those of you not big on hip-hop, Eminem.

    Unfortuantely, the love sick Marshall Mathers (Eminem) and now twice ex-wife Kim are splitting after Marshall filed for divorce on Wednesday. Their second marriage lasted less than 90 days. As we have come to find out through Eminem’s music, Kim Mathers isn’t the kind of woman to just go into the night quietly, and she was ready to give her side of the story right away.

    Kim called the popular Detroit radio show Mojo in the Morning on Thursday, just one day after the divorce was announced and said, “I was hoping we could go to counseling and work things out, but he sent an attorney to my house with papers and said that [Marshall] filed for divorce.” She went on to say that Em hadn’t spoken with her over a month.

    Kim also talked about how Marshall has fallen back into his old drug addiction, an addiction that she herself has experienced: “I see him doing a lot of the same things I did when I had my problem. I see exactly the same pattern that I was falling in.” Just last year, Eminem checked himself into a drug rehab center for an addiction to sleeping pills.

    However, Eminem’s camp didn’t hesitate to respond to Kim’s allegations. According to the same site, Eminem responded by email, “…a few of Kim’s statements in the interview this morning need to be addressed. First, her allegations regarding my status post-rehab are both untrue and unfortunate. Second, she was aware that I was filing for divorce. We both tried to give our marriage another chance and quickly realized that a wedding doesn’t fix the underlying problems.”

    Eminem has in recent months claimed he was done making music himself in order to focus on production of other artists. A contingent of rap fans that felt that Eminem’s last album, Encore, was mediocre. Some critics feel that as Eminem’s fame and money have grown, he has lost things to rap about — his edge.

    Could this most recent development between Marshall and Kim light a fire under this once great rapper’s ass and motivate the old Em to get back in the studio? Rap fans hope that the Eminem from The Marshall Mathers LP comes back and records another classic.