Backstage Pass

Here are some of my favorites moments from last year:

10. Taking Back Sunday, Giants Stadium, 7.7.07: After their rousing set as part of Live Earth, TBS’ Adam Lazzara, Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano take to the press room to discuss environmental concerns and the meaning of the day with the world’s media. When they see me, however, the trio uses its place at the podium to get the world’s media to give me a big round of applause. The world’s media declines.

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5. Arcade Fire, “Antichrist Television Blues” (Merge): A dark, depressing look into the world of stage parents and child stars that is cleverly disguised by the jangling guitar, the sweet backing vocals and Win Butler’s diabolically earnest delivery.

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10. Bone Thugs N Harmony feat. Mariah Carey and Bow Wow, “Lil L.O.V.E.” (Full Surface/Interscope): Bone Thugs’ double-time, tongue-twisting rhymes play nicely against Carey’s silky, low-key singing on the refrain, creating a single as potent as “We Belong Together.”

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15. Avril Lavigne feat. Lil Mama, “Girlfriend (Remix)” (RCA): I admit it, I wasn’t crazy about the original version, but Lil Mama’s flashy rhymes and irresistible “B-R-double-O-K-lyn” style makes it all worthwhile.

20. Against Me! feat. Tegan, “Borne on the FM Waves” (Warner Bros.): Of all the deliciously subversive anthems on Against Me!’s fine “New Wave” album, the sweetness that Tegan adds to the struggle pushes this one to the top.

National Public Radio listeners today confirmed their reputation as bespectacled white geek-rockers who prefer not to actually rock by voting Radiohead's "In Rainbows" as the No. 1 album of 2007.

The listeners' Top 25 albums included only one rap album and one non-white artist: "Kala" by the Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A.

Five critics weighed in with similarly colored Top Ten lists, bringing the number of albums by non-white artists to three, including "Cornell 1964," a newly-released live recording by Charles Mingus, and "Twinight's Lunar Rotation," a collection of tracks from obscure funk-soul bands.

(The critic Will Hermes chose "Untrue," by the mysterious London producer Burial, which may or may not count: Burial has remained almost completely anonymous, making it hard to tell.)

Three critics also chose "In Rainbows" as No. 1.

Listeners picked Canadian acts Arcade Fire and Feist as No. 2 and 3, respectively, and rounded out their top ten with Wilco, The White Stripes, Spoon, Modest Mouse, The Shins, The National and Andrew Bird.

(Full disclosure: This writer's Top Ten list leads with The Fiery Furnaces' "Widow City.") 

The space that currently holds the Virgin Megastore in Union Square will be put on the market by a real estate broker for 2009, according to Billboard.biz.

Winick Realty has already sent out packages highlighting the massive store's features, which include 28,000 square feet on one floor and 30,000 on another, Billboard reports. Virgin will vacate Feb. 1, 2009, according to The New York Sun.

Back in August, two real-estate firms, Vornado Realty Trust and The Related Companies, jointly purchased the Virgin chain, which owns 11 stores in 6 states, including the Union Square location and another in Times Square. Even then, observers predicted that Vornado-Related would shutter the New York locations in order to rent the spaces to business at higher rates.

Both stores have reportedly benefited from below-market rent thanks to long-term leases.

Two prime tickets -- Section A1, Row 26, Seats 11 and 12 -- for Miley Cyrus's Dec. 28 show at Nassau Coliseum are being auctioned off for charity, with bidding currently at $2,500.

The money will go to Free Arts NYC, which provides educational arts and mentoring programs to children. If you've got the dough, and the holiday spirit, check out www.charityfolks.com.

5. The Academy Is..., “Santi” (Fueled by Ramen): Chicago’s The Academy Is... delivered one shiny pop single after another on “Santi,” from the stomping “We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands” to the glam-tinged “Neighbors” to the current power ballad “Everything We Had.”

The Academy Is.., "Neighbors"

Ani DiFranco will kick off her 2008 winter tour at the good ol' IMAC theater in Huntington on Jan. 17. Opening will be Gail Ann Dorsey, a onetime session bassist for Bowie who also happens to have an impressive voice. DiFranco's tour also includes a stop in Nyack, NY, to join Pete Seeger's ongoing campaign against the Indian Point power plant there. Check out the IMAC site here.

10. Mavis Staples, “We’ll Never Turn Back” (Anti-): Wrapping her gritty-pretty soulful voice around a moving set of civil rights protest songs was not enough for Mavis Staples. Using flecks of hip-hop, blues and folk, she turned them into something new.

Mavis Staples, "Eyes on the Prize"

Black Sabbath without Ozzy Osbourne? The Who without Roger Daltrey? Led Zeppelin without Robert Plant? How about The Jam without Paul Weller?

That would be From The Jam, a combo made up of founding Jam members Bruce Foxton (bass) and Rick Buckler (drums) plus session musicians Dave Moore (keyboards) and Russell Hastings on lead vocals and guitar.

The band has done well enough on its November-December U.K. tour that it's now launching a 13-date tour of theaters in the U.S. with a stop Feb. 9 at Blender Theatre at Gramercy.

How will classic Jam tracks like "That's Entertainment," "This is the Modern World" and "Town Called Malice" sound without Paul Weller? Here's one answer:

Billboard.com asked more than a dozen artists to pick the best music of 2007 and got some fairly typical answers -- all the indie bands love each other, it seems -- but some of the responses were surprising.

Who knew, for instance, that Jessica Simpson likes the ethereal Icelandic composers Sigur Ros and the hipster electro-rock band Mute Math? "American Idol" runner-up Katharine McPhee put Radiohead's spacey latest, "In Rainbows," at the top of her list. Ozzy Osbourne voted for Paul McCartney's mellow "Memory Almost Full" (along with Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" and The White Stripes' "Icky Thump.") And what were the baby-faced Jonas Brothers doing at a Genesis concert, which made their top three?

Other artists' lists come off as suspiciously "eclectic." The classical pianist Lang Lang, for instance, cited Pavarotti, Bocelli, Chris Botti, Norah Jones -- and Kanye West. By contrast, Babyface didn't even try to stretch: He chose Colbie Callait, Maroon 5, Chrisette Michele and Amy Winehouse.

PHOTO: Billboard.com 

Edison Glass has finally posted a newly-minted video for "Let Go," the title track from its EP, released this summer. You can check it out at MySpace here. Note: The cell phone number at the end actually works -- you can leave a message for the band members, who promise to call back.

Billy Joel's classic album "The Stranger" featuring the hits "Just the Way You Are," "Movin' Out" and "Only the Good Die Young" will be inducted into The Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008, alongside a slate of other "recordings of significance" that include everything from Arturo Toscanini's 1953 recording of "Verdi: Otello" to The Police's "Roxanne" and the John Coltrane Quartet's "Ballads" album.

"The Stranger," released in 1977, was the album that turned Joel into a superstar. It sold more than 10 million copies, even holding the title of Columbia Records best-selling album in history until 1985, and landed him his first Grammy awards record and song of the year honors for "Just the Way You Are." The album, his first collaboration with producer Phil Ramone, was not only a commercial success, but an artistic one as well, featuring "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" and "Vienna."

Recorded works are eligible for The Grammy Hall of Fame 25 years after their release and are seen to have significantly impact musical history, said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "This year's inductees span nine decades and represent a diverse array of genres from classical and show tunes to blues, jazz and rock and roll," Portnow said in a statement. "They exemplify the best qualities that make the recording arts such a vital part of our culture and each not only uniquely reflects the zeitgeist of its time, but also possesses the enduring power of transcending time."

The inductees -- which also include Michael Jackson's "Thriller," The Beatles' "Help!" and Prince's "1999" -- will be recognized as part of the 2008 Grammy Awards broadcast on Feb. 10.

15. Annie Lennox, “Songs of Mass Destruction” (RCA): Though she spends most of her time outlining life’s heartbreaks and human failures on this album, Annie Lennox does it so beautifully in “Smithereens” or “Dark Road” it still seems positive.

Before Bayside hits the road with Straylight Run and Tokyo Rose in January, singer Anthony Raneri has booked a secret acoustic show at the Knitting Factory on Jan. 18. Tickets are $14 and go on sale at TicketWeb at noon tomorrow (12/20).

PHOTO: Anthony Raneri by David Schrott for Victory Records. 

Taking Back Sunday drummer Mark O’Connell still isn’t sure exactly what went wrong.
    After a show in Phoenix in August, he simply stopped being able to walk.
    “I got off the bus and it just hit me and I fell to the ground,” O’Connell recalled. “The guys were like, ‘What are you doing? That’s not funny.’ And I was like, ‘I can’t move.’ They kept saying, ‘Get up, you’re fine’ and they got me into the hotel lobby and I sat on the couch. I thought I would be better after a while, but I couldn’t move. I crawled on the floor through the lobby and onto the elevator to my room. I thought in the morning it would be fine. I got up the next day and I just fell in the bathroom. I was sitting on the bathroom floor in tears.”
    That’s when O’Connell was taken to the emergency room and learned he had a herniated disc in his back. Doctors ordered him off the tour and confined him to bed rest.
    Aside from his appearance for TBS’ set at the Jones Beach stop of the Projekt Revolution tour, which O’Connell was only able to make after doctors injected steroids directly into his spine, he was able to do nothing but rest at his Long Beach home for weeks.
     “It was a lot of just sitting around,” O’Connell said. “It definitely sucked. I was on painkillers for a long time and I was so worried I might get addicted.”
   

Specifically, Doritos corn chips.

Gina Cutillo, the veteran rocker from Coram, has made it to the semi-finals of the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest. A ridiculous name, you might say, but there's nothing ridiculous about the prize: a 60-second music video montage shown during the Super Bowl XLII broadcast in a slot normally reserved for a Doritos ad.

That's pretty good exposure: The Super Bowl is one of the highest-rated televised programs of the year, and its commercials are nearly as popular as the game. In February, some 92.8 million people watched the ads, according to Nielsen Media Research. By contrast, the May finale of "American Idol" drew about 31.2 million.

(Cutillo, seen with hands down pants at right, might not want to strike that pose on national television. That whole Janet Jackson fiasco is still fresh.)

A panel of music industry types, including will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas, chose the 10 Doritos semi-finalists, but the winner will be determined by vote. Check out Cutillo's competing song, "The Blame," and perhaps cast your ballot, at the Doritos site here.

PHOTO: Wayne Herrschaft 

20. Lucinda Williams, “West” (Lost Highway): California’s calming effect is starting to take hold of Lucinda Williams, who lets grand songs “West” and “Mama You Sweet” leisurely unfold and even makes time for a political daydream (“What If.”)

Lucinda Williams, "What If"

Mary J. is in a happier place these days as her new "Just Fine" video shows and it carries through the rest of the album. (Full review here.)

Mary J. Blige, "Just Fine"

MORE: Mary J. Blige's effortless 'Growing Pains' (Grade: B+)

In a ranting, all-cap post on her blog, M.I.A. claims MTV has "sabotaged" her video for "Paper Planes," scheduled to premiere on the network today.

The song's hook features four gun-shots, but the video has replaced those sounds with something more like a snare-drum.

How did M.I.A. find out about this tomfoolery? Through YouTube, of course.

"I MADE THE PAPER PLANES VIDEO," the rapper wrote on her MySpace blog. "I MADE IT HOW THEY WANTED. NO VIOLENCE. AMBIGUOUS. MTV - FRIENDLY. NOW TODAY, I CHECK YOUTUBE AND SEE THE LEAKED MTV PAPER PLANES VIDEO UP FOR THE FIRST TIME. I CLICKED ON IT AND OUT COMES THIS ----UP MESS WITH DOUBLE-TRACKED ---- MESS."

This isn't the first time M.I.A. has run afoul of the Standards & Practices department at a network. In September, she performed the song live for "Late Show With David Letterman" with the gunshots similarly replaced.

By the way, speaking of sabotage, look for a couple of Beastie Boys in the "Paper Planes" video. Here's the unedited version, which M.I.A. posted on MySpace:

And here's that weird-sounding Letterman performance:

In the run-up to his new album, Everlast is promoting his anti-war video for the track "Letters From the Garden of Stone," in which a soldier seems to be discussing his tour of duty from beyond the grave. It's unclear whether the solider is American or Iraqi, but as he notes in the song, "We all end up on the same side."

The video, filmed in Nashville and directed by Everlast's childhood friend Mazik (formerly of the band Blood of Abraham), focuses on the human cost of the war. There are shots of what appear to be a bloodied Iraqi child and an Iraqi man with his arms raised in surrender.

As with most protest songs, "Letters" doesn't get into questions of policy. But in a statement released today, Everlast -- whose Website displays his name in Arabic-style script -- said American troops are "not just fighting the good fight for the Red, White and Blue. They're fighting a mental and emotional battle every day, and as each day passes, they lose a little more faith, and a little more hope."

 It may have seemed like a risk when he did it, but Fred Mascherino’s decision to leave Taking Back Sunday to pursue his own band The Color Fred is looking more and more like a sure thing. When The Color Fred first came through, it was playing the small Knitting Factory. On Friday, the band played the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza with Straylight Run. When it returns on Feb. 15 with Angels and Airwaves, it will be playing Roseland Ballroom.

“It’s crazy,” Mascherino told me Friday night, after his set at Irving Plaza. “It’s way too early to be playing Roseland with this project, even if we are just opening.”

But fans of the band’s debut “Bend to Break” (Equal Vision) or those who have seen its increasingly more powerful live shows know that The Color Fred is quickly coming into its own. And Mascherino said he’s once again enjoying the climb up.

“It’s like going back in time,” he said. “I’ve had so much fun on this tour. And it’s so rewarding to be playing my own music.”

SETLIST: Get Out / Complaintor / The Tragedy / Hate to See You Go / Minnesota / If I Surrender / Don’t Pretend

On a related note, Taking Back Sunday has gathered in New York this week and is apparently auditioning guitar players to replace Mascherino. The band is looking at five guitarists, including Andrew Jackson, lead singer/guitarist from the recently broken-up Connecticut rockers Hot Rod Circuit.

On Friday night, as the Straylight Run / The Color Fred tour (a.k.a. The Former Taking Back Sunday Frontmen Move On Tour) wrapped up at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza, there was this enjoyable exchange.

FAN: Universal sucks!

JOHN NOLAN: Universal does suck!

FAN: I hate Universal!

NOLAN: I hate Universal too!

And so the Long Beach band's unceremonious dropping from its major-label deal with Universal was announced to the hometown crowd. Bassist Shaun Cooper announced it last week in a post on the band's message board, saying, "We did everything in our power to avoid the horrible situation we were put into, but I guess that wasn't enough. I guess the label is kind of in shambles. I mean, if you feel like the man that brought you The Killers and Fall Out Boy is expendable; what the hell are we?"

In the end, the move really wasn't a surprise. The band's album, "The Needles, The Space" is a pretty bold experiment that would've been hailed as an indie record, but was never a high priority over at Universal because it would simply never go multi-platinum. It was a weird match from the start, though Straylight did get the chance to make the album they wanted to make, glockenspiels and all.

And as their concert Friday night showed, the band and its ambitious sound only continue to improve. Cooper said the band is working on new material already and it has already lined up a tour with Bayside starting in January.

SETLIST: Soon We'll Be Living in the Future / The Miracle That Never Came / Hands in the Sky / The First of the Century / Who Will Save Us Now? / A Slow Descent / The Words We Say / How Do I Fix My Head? / Sympathy for the Martyr / Mistakes We Knew We Were Making / Still Alone / Take It to Manhattan / Existentialism on Prom Night // ENCORES: Your Name Here (Sunrise Highway) / Another Word For Desperate / Tool Sheds and Hot Tubs / Dignity and Money.

PHOTO: Straylight Run for Universal. 

The soft-rock troubadour Dan Fogelberg, known for his mellifluous voice and poignant, sometimes weighty lyrics, died Sunday of prostate cancer. He was 56.

A message on Fogelberg's Website said the singer died at 6 a.m. Sunday at his home in Maine with his wife Jean at his side.

Fogelberg was one of the leading lights of the '70s singer-songwriter scene, though he was never quite a part of it. Living in California in the early '70s, he made guest appearances on albums by Jackson Browne, Randy Newman and Roger McGuinn. But his distaste for the music industry led him to leave the West Coast in 1974 and settle in Boulder, Colo., far from the entertainment world.

Nevertheless, Fogelberg racked up a string of million-selling albums, including "Souvenirs" (1974) produced by Joe Walsh, "Captured Angel" (1975), "Nether Lands" (1977), "Twin Sons of Different Mothers" (1978), collaborating with the jazz flutist Tim Weisberg and "Phoenix" (1979), which charted at No. 3.

In 1981, as punk and new-wave were pushing singer-songwriters aside, Fogelberg ignored industry trends and released a double-album song cycle called "The Innocent Age." The album generated four Top Twenty hits: "Hard to Say," "Leader of the Band," about his father, a bandleader, "Run for the Roses" and "Same Old Lang Syne."

Fogelberg continued to record and tour until 2004 when he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. In a message on his Website that year, he thanked fans for their supportive emails.

"It is truly overwhelming and humbling to realize how many lives my music has touched so deeply all these years," Fogelberg wrote. "Each one of you who have taken the time and effort to reach out to Jean and I have helped immeasurably to uplift our spirits and keep us looking strongly forward during some very rough moments. I thank you from the very depths of my heart."

25. Macy Gray, “Big” (Geffen): Murderous tales, working mom R&B anthems and Justin Timberlake. Who could ask for more?

Macy Gray, "Finally Made Me Happy"