Ryan Book

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  • El-P Debuts Fantastic Four Movie's "Another Body" on Beats 1 Radio

    El-P of Run The Jewels, like many a hip-hop performer before him,. is a huge fan of comic books and science fiction. His abilities as a producer to boot make him an ideal candidate, therefore, for adding exclusive new music for new Marvel film The Fantastic Four. The hip-hop figure debuted his new instrumental track, "Another Body," on his duo's Beats 1 Radio show this weekend.

  • Bob Dylan's Biggest Non-Newport Folk Festival Performances: Concert for Bangladesh, More

    Fans and promoters at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island will spend the entire weekend celebrating the 50th anniversary of the occasion when Bob Dylan first took the stage with an electric guitar, thrilling some of the audience and alienating just as many, who felt betrayed by the folk icon taking a more rock 'n' roll approach to his genre. Given 50 years to think about it, and excellent albums such as Highway 61 Revisited as a result, the folks at Newport are feeling a bit more generous about what is now considered one of the most iconic live appearances of all time. It certainly goes down as the most momentous concert in Dylan's career, but don't think that he hasn't played a few other "big" shows in a career that stretches nearly 60 years. Here are a few other big live moments for The Bard.

  • Monsanto Releases Rebuttal to Neil Young's 'Seeding Fear' Film; GMOs Good or Bad?

    Neil Young is known for latching onto certain causes from time to time, but his battle against Monsanto and genetically modified organisms (just plants in this case) has been raging for years. Not only did the rocker name his most recent album 'The Monsanto Years' and has now released a ten-minute short film detailing the dangers of big agribusiness, titled 'Seeding Fear.' Now the target company has stormed back, accusing the performer of letting his bias get out of control in the film.

  • Pink Floyd Thought About Hip-Hop for 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason'

    One would expect the most experimental bands in rock music to be among the first to incorporate new forms of music into their albums...but that doesn't mean we think Pink Floyd messing around with hip-hop is a good idea. Indeed, a Reddit post on the band's page pointed to a point in history where the band almost sorta tried it.

  • NBC Airing Ed Sheeran's Wembley Stadium Concerts...with One Huge Special Guest

    Ed Sheeran is kind of a big deal in the UK—just look at his streaming numbers from 2015 thus far—so it's no surprise that he can headline a gig at Wembley Stadium. NBC has announced that they'll be airing a special comprised of Sheeran's recent three-date stint at the venue for audiences across the pond.

  • Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Mark Ronson Drive Huge UK Streaming Numbers

    If you want a primer on how music streaming is taking off around the world, consider the year-to-year numbers from the UK, stretching from 275 million plays last July to 500 million through the tracking period that ended July 16, 2015. That's not exactly the "double" that Billboard's headline claimed (math, guys) but that is a remarkable jump. Residents of the UK have streams more than 11.5 billion songs, an 80 percent increase on the first six months of 2014, thanks to Mark Ronson, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.

  • Albums Sequels That Worked: Led Zeppelin, Lil Wayne, Future and More

    The average blockbuster is hardly an original concept...everybody knows that the big money lies in sequels, such as the newly announced follow-up to Jurassic World, or the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious series. Granted, most of the time these films rarely end up being better than the original franchise. Although Furious 7 bucks the trend (the films actually got progressively better thanks to more and more absurd stunts and car chases), many questioned the need for the reintroduction to the Jurassic Park universe, especially after the last two sequels fell flat with critics (then again...all three of the follow-ups to the classic original have been box office smashes...so we're all to blame). Albums often work the same way, but occasionally the later chapters outshine the originals, or at least match them. Here are six albums that were better than the preceding ones with similar titles.

  • Michael Jackson and Bad Movies: A Brief History of The King's Filmography

    It was revealed this week that Michael Jackson had once hoped to take on the role of Jar Jar Binks in 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,' which would have put the greatest pop star of all time on the cast list as one of the most reviled film characters of all time. Fortunately, it didn't happen: Jackson wanted to do the part in prosthetics, similar to the "Thriller" video, while creator George Lucas wanted to go with CGI for the character. Jackson may not have been a total failure on-camera—the aforementioned music video is still among the most influential, and best, in history-but that doesn't save him from a largely disastrous career in film. Jackson rarely graced Hollywood productions...but when he did, they tended to be awful. Check out these four films that featured the King of Pop.

  • Cradle of Filth Relishes Second Guitar on 'Hammer of The Witches'

    Society always celebrates the records that top the Billboard 200 album chart. Back of The Billboards is a Music Times weekly segment that looks at the opposite end: the new record that finished closest to the back of the Billboard 200 for the previous week. We hope to give a fighting chance to the bands you haven't heard of. This week we look at 'Hammer of The Witches,' the new album from black metal standbys Cradle of Filth, featuring a new lineup in tow.

  • Alex Winter Helming Ambitious Frank Zappa Documentary with Estate's Approval

    Musical documentaries on characters such as Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse have been all the rage this year, and now an ambitious project revolving around the life of Frank Zappa has been announced. The film, approved by the Zappa Family Trust, won't be expected to hit theaters until 2017, but that's because of the huge level of material that filmmakers Alex Winter and Glen Zipper will have to work with.

  • Michael Jackson Wanted to Play Jar Jar Binks in 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace'

    We found out this week that Michael Jackson did not in fact write the hit Simpsons song "Do The Bartman," but fans of the King of Pop will be glad he didn't originate another role either: Jar Jar Binks. It came out this week that Jacko was actually hoping to portray the loathed Star Wars: The Phantom Menace character.

  • 'American Psycho' Joins 'Fight Club,' More in Broadway Adaptation

    Another film will join the run of musicals based on blockbusters to hit Broadway soon, as 'American Psycho' has been confirmed as the latest adaptation to hit the Great White Way soon. The cult classic film, based on the novel by Brett Easton Ellis, focuses on Patrick Bateman, a wealthy Manhattanite who revels in bizarre and grotesque murder sequences.

  • Future's Free Los Angeles Show Moved from Roxy to House of Blues due to Crowds

    The final free concert from Future's "Salute The Fans" mini-tour was moved last night after fans in Los Angeles became rowdy while waiting for wristbands. The rapper had tweeted "The Roxy" early in the morning, as he had at three previous dates. The crowd began piling up outside the venue's doors at 9 a.m. (more than 15 hours before the shows was scheduled to start) and as the line became longer and more raucous, police shut the whole thing down.

  • Horrible Songs for National Hot Dog Day, From Elvis Presley to Limp Bizkit

    Today is national hot dog day, a celebration of perhaps the most American of food items, and a time for everyone to enjoy their "tube steaks" in whatever way they prefer (your correspondent, from Cincinnati, prefers his with chili, cheese and mustard). Although there aren't very many losers when it comes to eating hot dogs...there are plenty of losers when the food item gets tossed into music. Here are five examples of musicians failing to find musical inspiration in America's favorite pork byproduct, from Limp Bizkit to LMFAO.

  • 6 Hip-Hop Song Sans Verses for AC: Tupac, Eminem, Kanye West and More

    Has your mother ever commented how much she enjoys the chorus to "See You Again" or "Monster," but that she really wishes Wiz Khalifa and Eminem (respectively) hadn't "ruined" the song with their raps? She's not the first. This week we found out that a revised version of the former song, featuring only Charlie Puth's hook, as well as new melodic verses in place of Khalifa's bars, has been on the rise at Adult Contemporary radio...occasionally known as "Adult Conservative." The only thing less likely to end up on AC than hip-hop is heavy metal, but as rappers frequently find themselves invited to guest on pop singles (such as Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" featuring Kendrick Lamar), labels sometimes edit the "offending" portion out, resulting in a safer, frequently less exciting product.

  • N.W.A. Reunion with Eminem Filling in For Eazy-E? Rumors Say 'Yes'

    Chatter has persisted about a possible N.W.A. reunion, following the group's performance at the BET Experience in Los Angeles and the forthcoming film Straight Outta Compton, and now some voices are giving credence to the idea, suggesting that Eminem may tour with the icons.

  • 'See You Again' Gains AC Airplay; More Charlie Puth, No Wiz Khalifa

    Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again" may be done at the top of the Hot 100, but it's just now picking up steam on the Adult Contemporary charts. This may surprise conservative listeners everywhere, as hip-hop is about as welcome on AC radio as Iggy Azalea at the BET Awards. The trick? Getting soulful crooner Puth to release his own version of the song, minus Khalifa's headlining raps.

  • LeBron James Signs With Warner...WB Trademarks 'Space Jam'...Do The Math

    Music Times recently named the soundtrack to 'Space Jam' as one of the most influential '90s music compilations, and now we may have a new film to consider nearly two decades later. A number of actions on behalf of Warner Brothers, involving one NBA superstar LeBron James, suggest that the long-rumored sequel to the Michael Jordan/Looney Toons classic may be soon upon us.

  • Michael Jackson Did Not Write 'The Simpsons' "Do The Bartman"(?)

    A piece of pop culture kinda-history has died as authoritative proof has come out revealing that no, Michael Jackson really did not write The Simpsons' classic "Do The Bartman." Original songwriter Bryan Loren (whose name has been on the track the whole time) sold off his publishing rights to the song, as well as a number of his other compositions. Considering the lawsuits the Jackson family has been bringing against AEG, you can bet they'd stick their legs out if there was a chance Jacko's estate should be getting royalties for "Bartman."

  • 5 Best Twitter Beefs of 2015: One Direction, Iggy Azalea, Taylor Swift and More

    Twitter hasn't been short on beefs for 2015, but this week has blown up the social media service as Meek Mill has called out Drake for allegedly using a ghostwriter, and Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift have gone back and forth about VMA nominations and body shape. They weren't the first musicians to stir things up with 140 characters (or several salvos of 140 characters) this year. Here are five other digital battles that have gone down during 2015 thus far, including One Direction, Iggy Azalea and...believe it or not... not Azealia Banks (we take her tweets for granted anymore).

  • 7 Hip-Hop Guest Spots for George Clinton's 75th Birthday: Snoop, Tupac, More

    Music Times wants to wish George Clinton, the iconic bandleader behind Parliament and Funkadelic, as well as the greatest figures in funk music history. We could spend thousands and thousands of words describing how great his bands were in the studio and live onstage...but that's a theme that's been reworked thousands and thousands of times. One subject that doesn't get as much respect is Clinton's influence on the world of hip-hop. If you don't believe us, just check out how many guest spots he's done for hip-hop tracks over the years, from Snoop Dogg to Tupac to Kendrick Lamar. We chose the biggest names that Clinton has worked with just to demonstrate how far and wide his appreciation in the genre stretches.

  • Alibaba Announces Music Division, Streaming Service Alizila

    The Chinese music scene is in for a huge shakeup as web commerce conglomerate Alibaba has announced a music division. The company will reportedly be combining two of its holdings, Tiantian and Xiami, into one massive streaming service titled Alizila.

  • Lee Brice Partners with Jagermeister for Fall Country Music Tour

    One could be forgiven to buying into the stereotypes regarding beer and whiskey as the go-to adult beverages of choice for country music stars, but Lee Brice is shaking things up a bit by grabbing Jagermeister as the primary sponsor for his upcoming tour. The "Jagermeister Presents" country tour will feature Brice, as well as openers Granger Smith and Brian Milson.

  • Newport Folk Icon Theodore Bikel Dead at 91; Original 'Sound of Music' Star

    Theodore Bikel, an actor known for his work in Fiddler on The Roof and The Sound of Music, as well as an accomplished musician who founded the Newport Folk Festival, has died at the age of 91. A statement from his publicist reports that the performer died of natural causes at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

  • Tyrese Tops Billboard 200 with 'Black Rose,' Beats Meek Mill, Taylor Swift

    Tyrese may be the first musician to both star in a film with a no. 1 soundtrack ('Furious 7') and have a no. 1 album of his own in the same year ('Black Rose'). Although he didn't contribute to the aforementioned soundtrack, his most recent album became his first to top the Billboard 200, moving 86,000 equivalent units.
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