MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS: Nominees Announced
They will be handed out August 30th in Los Angeles, with Miley Cyrus hosting. Voting is open now at at VMA.MTV.com.
Video of the Year
Beyonce - "7/11"
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud"
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood”
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"
Kendrick Lamar - "Alright"
Best Male Performance
Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud"
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"
Kendrick Lamar - "Alright"
The Weeknd - "Earned it"
Nick Jonas - "Chains"
Best Female Performance
Beyonce - "7/11"
Taylor Swift - "Blank Space"
Nicki Minaj - "Anaconda"
Sia - "Elastic Heart"
Ellie Goulding - "Love Me Like You Do"
Best Hip-Hop Video
Fetty Wap - “Trap Queen”
Nicki Minaj - “Anaconda”
Kendrick Lamar - “Alright”
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth - “See You Again”
Big Sean - “I Don’t F With You”
Best Rock Video
Hozier - "Take Me to Church"
Fall Out Boy - "Uma Thurman"
Florence + the Machine - "Ship to Wreck"
Walk the Moon - "Shut Up and Dance"
Arctic Monkeys - "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?"
Best Collaboration
Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – “See You Again”
Ariana Grande & The Weeknd – “Love Me Harder”
Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicky Minaj – “Bang Bang”
Best Video With a Social Message
Jennifer Hudson - “I Still Love You”
Colbie Calliat - “Try”
Big Sean - “One Man Can Change the World”
Rihanna - “American Oxygen”
Wale - “The White Shoes”
Artist to Watch
Fetty Wap - “Trap Queen”
Vance Joy - “Riptide”
George Ezra - “Budapest”
James Bay - “Hold Back The River”
FKA Twigs - “Pendulum”
BOB DYLAN: New Book About His First Electric Concert
It was 50 years ago this week that folk icon Bob Dylan first performed with an electric guitar. His brief set at the Newport Folk Festival, backed by a band, on July 25th, 1965, changed rock and roll. Elijah Wald has chronicled this groundbreaking event in a book called Dylan Goes Electric.
Wald says the book has two different potential audiences.
"If they're Dylan fans, it's the attempt to sort out what really happened that night [in 1965] when he went electric at Newport."
If not, "I'm really trying to explain what it felt like in that moment... when the early '60s suddenly splits into the '60s of rock and roll, long hair and the Vietnam War."
Wald explains, "It's also the story of the time and of the Newport Folk Festival which is the model of... festivals as a place to not just share the music but as a communal experience. Newport is the investor of the modern music festival."
Dylan's decision to go electric was met with resistance, anger and rejection by many in folk music circles -- while he was simultaneously welcomed as a peer by such rock luminaries as The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.
ROGER WATERS: While We're at It, Let's Improve the Video
Roger Waters seems to have sweated the details for the reissue of Amused to Death.
He's not only remixed the 1992 album in 5.1 surround sound high-definition audio, but has also tweaked the video for its lead track, “What God Wants, Part 1.″ He's added better footage, along with sound from an in-studio jam with Jeff Beck that was used in the original clip.
The updated album -- which is still his most recent studio effort 23 years after its initial release -- comes out Friday.
DAVID BOWIE, ST. VINCENT: Autograph From One Star to Another
Nothing says loving like a guitar autographed by David Bowie.
That's what Paper Towns star Cara Delevingne gave her musician girlfriend Annie Clark, better known as St. Vincent. The all-white Eastwood Airline Twin Tone is signed on the back, "For Annie, With my very best wishes. David Bowie."
Clark posted a photo of it on Instagram and wrote "Best gift ever in the entire world. (Heart emoji...)" (NME)
JIMMY PAGE: Hosting Zep Events in Toronto & New York
Jimmy Page is back in North America to talk about next week's release of the final three albums in the Led Zeppelin catalog reissue campaign -- Presence, In Through the Out Door and CODA. All three will be released next Friday, July 31st.
Last night he was in Toronto to host 65 contest winners for a listening session of select tracks from the albums. He says he chose Toronto because it was "really supportive of Led Zeppelin in those days. And the press that we got from those very early shows, it seemed like honest reviews as opposed to what was appearing in Rolling Stone... Heaven knows why they were negative reviews... They [didn’t have a] clue what was going on during the albums or the shows. But here [in Toronto] it was just a fantastic response to what we were doing and an honest response because it was just so good, anyway."
Page heads to New York for a listening session tonight (Wednesday 7/22).
TOM PETTY: Wants to Spread a Little Mud
The next time Tom Petty hits the road, it's likely to be with his pre-Heartbreakers band, Mudcrutch, who will start recording their second album next month.
Petty says, "[In 2008] we were kinda under the gun because there was a big Heartbreakers tour coming up not long after that, so we didn't have a lot of time [to tour]. We kind of just ran up and down the West Coast real fast and did a fairly long stand at the Troubadour [in West Hollywood]. Those were really fun gigs. It's a totally different thing than the Heartbreakers. It's a different rhythm section. It's a different style of music. Just writing for this group is interesting because I have to change my mindset from where I'm at today with the Heartbreakers."
In addition to Petty, who plays bass in Mudcrutch, the lineup includes Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of The Heartbreakers, along with drummer Randall Marsh and guitarist Tom Leadon, brother of Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon.
SAM SMITH: Ladies Man
Sam Smith has been hailed for his unique, emotive vocal style, and he says he owes it all to the ladies in his life -- namely Adele, Amy Winehouse and Beyonce, who he cites as his main influences.
Sam tells Cleveland's Plain Dealer that he never gave much thought to his listening habits as a teen, but says, "I realize now why I listened to females. One, as a gay man, I could relate to their lyrics about men more than a man talking about a girl. And also, there is an element of strength in all those artists. That made me feel strong when I listened to them."
He adds that the female perspective helps him connect with fans. "I look into my audience and see how much that physically affects people and realize how important it is. I read something today, a quote from someone in a magazine and they said, "I just want to make people feel something through my music. It's that simple.'' And I couldn't agree more, it is that simple. That to me comes from honesty."
Sam will perform in Raleigh, North Carolina on Thursday night.
LORDE, KEANE, BASTILLE: Here Come the Judges
Lorde, Bastille and Keane are among the artists acting as judges for this year's International Songwriting Competition.
The annual competition, which was created in 2002, “encourages songwriters to create, develop and challenge their artistry by creating something truly meaningful." Vance Joy won the Grand Prize last year for “Riptide.” He picked up $25,000 cash and $30,000 in merchandise and services. Previous winners include Bastille, Gotye and Passenger. The contest is open to professional and non-professional songwriters.
Other artists voting this year include American Authors, Keb Mo, Moby, Shakey Graves, ex-Civil Wars singer Joy Williams, Art Alexakis of Everclear and Tom Waits.
BLUR: No Gigs Without "Song 2"
Dave Rowntree of Blur says the band has to play "Song 2" at every festival they do -- or they could get hurt.
The drummer tells England's XFM they're sort of locked into "Song 2" and other tracks like "Girls and Boys" because most people in a festival won't know their more obscure material. He explains, "It's difficult. It's an hour and a half set, and there's about an hour's worth of music that you absolutely have to play or we'd get bottled off... You know, if we didn't play 'Song 2' we'd never get invited to a festival again."
