TwitBits: Christina Perri, Skrillex, Bryan Adams, Kings Of Leon And More

Christina Perri finds heaven, Skrillex wants to play to dogs, Bryan Adams watches prehistoric soccer coverage, Kings Of Leon and The Strokes start a book club, and heaps more.

We’re back for the New Year and continue peeking into the thrilling lives of musicians on Twitter.

• If Questlove from The Roots can still ask Diddy if he can break items with his mind, it means Diddy can’t.
• One can only suspect a Skrillex concert for dogs would have the same effect on them as New Year’s fireworks.
• Jared Followill from Kings Of Leon and Albert Hammond Jr from The Strokes seem to be starting their own book club, bless ‘em.
• Tyler The Creator says that the OFWGKTA twitter account has been hacked. How could they ever tell? Are the hackers being polite or something?
• The inimitable Henry Wagons hits the bar with an (Arctic) Monkey and a (Last Shadow) Puppet.
• Strike one off the bucket list for Grizzly Bear – they finally found that painting of a heavily-nippled monkey excited by asparagus.
• The Teflon Don, Mr Rick Ross is humbled by a six-figure bidding war over his new mixtape. But not so humbled that he won’t tweet about it.
• Poppet Christina Perri finds heaven in what looks like an instragrammed photo of the Windows default wallpaper.
• An unverified Anthony Keidis twitter account says: “My new year’s resolution for 2012 is to catch a live bird with my bare hands. Like, a healthy one.” I want to believe.
• “Soccer will one day get instant replays”? What Third World network are you watching, Bryan Adams? Actually, the Third World networks would be better for soccer coverage.

Top music moments of 2011

The music biz is in the middle of a very long and painful transition from one business model to a new and undefined one. But it does feel like the music biz turned a corner in 2011.

Despite some hard bumps the music business has taken during the past decade -- bumps that the film, book and video-game worlds are just beginning to experience -- the industry is more present, ubiquitous and more available than ever before. Nothing breeds innovation like disruption, and we're seeing plenty of both.

For the first time since 2004, overall album sales were up, to the tune of 4 per cent. Of that, digital album purchases increased by nearly 20 per cent and track sales by 9 percent. CD sales were down 5 per cent, but it was a far less toxic number than the double-digit declines of the past decade.

Top music stories of 2011 

Google, Spotify, Facebook: 

This trio underscored the digital surge in 2011-- and the immediate gratification of paying to download a track. Yet people still embraced albums. HMV Canada is now hopeful that a new online streaming subscription service will take off in Canada, joining Rdio, Slacker Radio, Rara and Deezer.

Five women who rocked the world: 

Rihanna, Adele, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry helped dig the music business out of its seven-year sales slump. Adele was the sindustry's hining star of in 2011. She sold five million copies of her Grammy-nominated sophomore effort, and 21 to 33 percent of them were digital. The album has sold in excess of 100,000 for more than 30 weeks, the first time that has happened since 2006. From undergoing throat surgery to cleaning up in Grammy nominations, Adele provided story after story for the music world. "Rolling In The Deep" also sold more digital copies than any song in history, landing Adele on just about everyone's "best of 2011′ lists.

Swift moved 3.8 million copies of her third album.

Perry saw five singles from her second full-length album top the charts, tying Michael Jackson for the record and totalling 15 million downloads.

Rihanna also released two hit albums to bookend the year, racking up sales of 1.9 million.

In terms of pop, 2011 was clearly the year of the female singer.

Adele, Lady Gaga, Perry, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears pulled off radio hits and sold 52.5 million downloads combined. They also toured their vocal cords raw, spent millions on videos and performed at every awards show imaginable.

Arcade Fire's Grammy: 

Arcade Fire rocked the music world when their album "The Suburbs" won the Grammy for Album Of The Year. While many critics thought the accolade was a well-earned choice, the pop-music community retaliated in disbelief and outrage. The win, however, paved the way for other cult musicians and lesser known artists to enter the mainstream arena.

Canadians ruled the world: 

For the first time, four of the Top Five albums on the Billboard pop charts were by Canadians at the start of Dec., 2011. Michael Bublé had the second biggest selling album of the year with "Christmas," joined by Drake, Justin Bieber and Nickelback. The Weekend scored massive play, with more than 500,000 free downloads for this record (hyped by Drake). Deadmau5 broke attendance records in NYC's Roseland Ballroom, which they followed up by throwing a stadium rave filled with 20,000 people at Toronto's Rogers Center. The Sheepdogs, the Saskatoon retro-rockers, also became the first unsigned band to grace the cover of the Rolling Stone. The Sheepdogs became the second Canadian band in history to score that honour.

In short, it's been quite the end to a year that began with the Grammys handing its first-ever Best Album award to a Canadian band, Arcade Fire.

Steve Jobs, Amy Winehouse die:
 
Amy Winehouse has been greatly missed by her fans since she passed away on July 23, 2011 at the age of 27. The release of her posthumous album, "Lioness: Hidden Treasures," allowed the world to glimpse into the raw, unfinished works of the troubled singer.

Steve Jobs also passed away and received a Trustee Award from the music industry. The honour was bestowed upon a man that every label hated. Jobs held the music industry in a stranglehold for years. But death changes the world's perspective on people.

Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray is jailed: 

Conrad Murray became known around the world after Michael Jackson's untimely death on June 25, 2009. Murray attended Jackson at the time of his death. In November, Murray was jailed for four years for involuntary manslaughter. The judge who delivered the sentence told Murray that he had "abandoned his patient, who was trusting him." Fifty-year-old Jackson died on the eve of his much anticipated comeback shows, which were due to take place over 50 nights at London's O2 Arena.

Breakups and reunions: 

The White Stripes, LCD Soundsystem, R.E.M. and (hiatus) Black Eyed Peas all called it a day in 2011. Stone Roses, Black Sabbath and Van Halen with original lead singer David Lee Roth reformed. Prince also performed a cross-Canada tour which sold out.

Nostalgia: 

Record labels and fans celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Nirvana's "Nevermind," Pearl Jam's "10," U2's "Achtung Baby" and The Beach Boys' "Smile" box set.

Beyonce's pregnancy 

It seemed like all anyone was talking about in 2011 was Beyonce's pregnancy, from the initial reveal during her VMAs performance of "Love On Top," (which broke the Tweets per second record) to the controversy surrounding the realness of her baby bump. Now the world waits for the chosen one to emerge from the most revered womb on earth.

It's Friday, Friday: 

Rebecca Black's "Friday" was the runaway sensation of 2011. The strangely hypnotic tune and low-budget video made for the most talked about song of the year, though many ridiculed Black's efforts. Still, with 180 million YouTube views, Black's "Friday" was the Internet hit of the year.

The Black Keys, Coldplay won't share: 

The Black Keys not only found mainstream fame and appreciation in 2011, they also refused to share their new album, "El Camino." The Black Keys announced that they wouldn't be offering "El Camino" on music file sharing devices like Spotify, claiming that it wasn't feasible at this point in the band's career to do so since the band makes its living selling music. Fans spoke out from both sides, marking The Black Keys as the second major act behind Coldplay to shun streaming services.

Bon Iver, Skillrex get Grammy Nods: 

"Alternative" cult artists Bon Iver and Skillrex scored nominations for 2012′s Grammy Awards for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best New Artist. Controversy surrounded the nominations, as Bon Iver front man Justin Vernon slammed the Grammys by calling them "unimportant."

Skrillex scored a whopping five Grammy nominations and became the first DJ to land a Best New Artist nod. The former Sonny Moore's musical background -- both on his own and as a member of his former group, From First to Last -- carried over into Skrillex's brand of fiery electronica.

Skrillex - Bangarang (EP Review)

Skrillex is actually a man called Sonny Moore who used to be the lead singer and guitarist in an emo band called From First To Last (They were actually quite good!). The band disappeared into obscurity after the release of their second LP and I thought that would be the last anyone would hear of any of them. This was back in 2004.

A year or two later, Sonny attempted a solo electronic project imaginatively titled 'Sonny'. It seems here he picked up a few tricks because in 2009 he released his first EP as Skrillex and blew the world of Dubstep wide open.

Skrillex, love him or hate him, is the most well-known name in Dubstep. He is adored by thousands of fans who strongly feel he is the cutting-edge of music progression this decade, whilst at the same time having an equal amount of people apparently hate his guts because of his help in the commercialisation of Dubstep.

I have to admit I found myself more inclined to the 'haters' camp even having listened to each of his new remixes. However, with the release of his new EP, 'Bangarang', he makes it very clear he is all about the music and all my prejudice about him melted away with the listen of one track.

'Bangarang' is seven tracks of Dubstep, Trance, elements of progressive house and guitars being thrown in and Skrillex seems to be evolving to use Drum and Bass and Jungle beats in a concoction of electronic beauty.

The first song is aptly named, 'Right In', as that's what he does. Less than 30 seconds from pressing the play button and the track is in full force. “It's another one!”  Says some person before blasting the bass. This is the only track he does on the EP without collaboration.

Swiftly to the second track, 'Bangarang', which starts off with some funky 70's style guitar, while the first collaborator Sirah (I've never heard of them either) raps. The drop is quite literally the most impressive I've ever heard him produce.

'Breaking A Sweat' is the third track. It is notable because the collaborators are the surviving members of The Doors (If you don't know who they are.... shame on you) plus an eerily accurate prediction (at about 2:35) from the late great Jim Morrison about the future of music. Great and intelligent DJ'ing from Skrillex.

The fourth track, 'The Devil's Den', features Wolfgang Gartner and is an absolute banger. Get a copy of it and play it at a party, make sure everyone sees you put it on. Everyone will love you. 'Right On Time', the fifth, features fellow electronic music artists, 12th Planet and Kill The Noise, a classic track setting the level for which all Dubstep should now be based. The sixth track, 'Kyoto', welcomes back Sirah from the second track to do some more rapping with Dubstep over the top of it.

The closing track is wonderful. 'Summit', has a simple riff but is majestic in it's delivery and builds and builds until you almost can't take it anymore. Ellie Goulding (also worth checking out her work) features and sings perfectly complementing Sonny's voice. On hearing this song, I downloaded this EP as fast I could, which inspired me to write this review.

'Bangarang' is the fourth EP by Electro House/Dubstep producer Skrillex. It was released for download on Beatport on December 23rd, 2011, was made available from other music download sites on December 27th, 2011, and will be physically released on January 24th, 2012.

Skipping Over Dubstep, Breaking All the Big Beats, an EP that Bangs Genres Together

(Big Beat / Atlantic Records) First released as a download from Beatport on December 24, 2011, widely released on all other digital sites on December 27th, and with a physical drop date set for January 24, 2012 Bangarang -- the fourth and latest EP from Skrillex -- has been introduced to the world as a spitting firework of a release. Fitting to be launched over the threshold of a new year, it's explosive and sounds like the measure of a moment of time.

The Grammy Award-nominated Skrillex tends to split listeners. He's a newcomer who had been around for quite sometime in a previous post-hardcore incarnation as lead singer in From First to Last. He's a Dubstup aficionado who doesn't always regard the rules of genre. He's a Bigbeat specialist who doesn't always treat rhythms as the genre police would expect. He's credibly recognized yet sometimes throws his credentials a curve ball. He's one of the most notoriously experimental names in electronica, yet he is fast to commercial success and to establishment of sound. He's bound to have those who disapprove; he is also destined to receive the adoration of fans who like their tunes club-banged into bewildered dimensions.

Aside from anything, the Bangarang EP stands as a flash-bang of ambition. With a host of contributing artists -- Sirah, The Doors, Wolfgang Gartner, 12th Planet, Kill the Noise, and Ellie Goulding -- appearing across the eight tracks, the diversity is stunning. There's a generosity of spirit from all involved; The Doors, appearing on “Breakn' A Sweat,” was recorded as part of the Re:Generation Music Project -- a movie that married musicians through the ages with contemporary DJs. The track -- for all of its surprises, atmosphere, beat, and lifted vocal commentary -- still sounds exactly as you'd expect if The Doors had ridden the snake into the future to the point where production techniques and the Collective Unconsciousness were ready to receive the message. Hooks are strong, beats are big, and the beauty of the track unfolds like a potentially stormy ocean.

Production across the EP is all Skrillex. Regardless of genre and regardless of what he's handling, the man just brings the best out of sounds. Until you hear it, you'd consider terms like 'cubism' somewhat pretentious when discussing music, but what he achieves with deconstruction, reconstruction, treatment, and fill-ins is other-worldly. Ignore what you expect to hear or what you're told is acceptable, commercial, or credible; listen to the sounds and you'll see that music is nothing but a whole bunch of noise assembled in such a way that gravity can sometimes be ignored and space sometimes has additional dimensions. Phil Spector's Wall of Sound is the closest production reference you could make, but only if you'd smashed in the wall and rebuilt with mirrors, flame, liquids, and glitch.

Sonically, this is a massive EP. Volume begs and deserves to belong over every track, but this isn't a simple dose of bombastic floor-fillers. Ellie Goulding brings ethereal strains to “Summit” and proves that some mountains are both earthly and above the clouds. Her voice here is perhaps as cool as it has ever been. Closing track “Orchestral Suite By Varien” builds on the concept of air and height and feels like take-off. Fans of Skrillex will use tracks like this to illustrate the breadth of the man's vision; the detractors will level some kind of nonsense to do with lack of focus. The fact is that it's just this kind of track and the multi-palette approach that displays a larger truth.

As with the Re:Generation Music Project, the Bangarang EP underlines that music doesn't know its own color, a song has no sense of genre, and emotional content shouldn't be checked against categories, sub-categories, or codes of conduct. In that sense, Skrillex is a purely innovative artist. In the sense of what's hip, what's acceptable and expected, he may occasionally falter, but that's because he's paying attention to the tunes and not to the accessories and attachments. Add volume and await the Grammys.