By
Oliver Pangborn, photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
on October 28, 2008 3:20 PM|Permalink
Maybe your boyfriend wants to get his Rock Band on and see AC/DC at Allstate. Or maybe your girlfriend really, really, really wants to see Madonna at the United Center. Whatever the reason, you’ll eventually have to abandon the cozy confines of Schubas or the Empty Bottle for the dreaded venue of the indie rock faithful: a stadium show. But with the right mindset, you can make your arena experience survivable-- and maybe even enjoyable.
By
Jesse Jarnow
on October 17, 2008 9:00 AM|Permalink
Release Date: Oct. 17 Director: Madonna Writers: Madonna, Dan Cadan Cinematographer: Tim Maurice-Jones Starring: Eugene Hutz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure, Richard E. Grant Studio/Run Time: IFC, 81 mins. Crisply written, maturely mild sex comedy from the one-time Material Girl
Madonna’s directorial debut, Filth and Wisdom, contains the expected: strippers, light S&M, erotic poetry. But, co-written with Guy Ritchie associate Dan Cadan, it also has crisp banter, endearing characters and the magnetism of Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hutz, whose narrator, A.K., fronts a struggling gypsy-punk band in London while he beats up pervs for money on the side. For saints, “filth will appear as an oasis,” he says early, facing the camera, puppy-eyed. Throughout, the ensemble—including blind poet Professor Flynn (a dignified Richard E. Grant)—treats depravity as a resource, a way of accessing freedom. A.K.’s ballerina flatmate—the genuinely sweet Holly Watson—gradually finds herself after becoming a stripper to make rent. Though she’s a first-time director, Madonna’s displays throughout the ’80s and ’90s allow Filth and Wisdom to exist: Culturally, where domination interludes are now comic relief, and artistically, where Madge-2000 doesn’t even need nudity to get her point across. Watch the trailer for Filth and Wisdom:
Michael Moore has picked up Madonna’s documentary I Am
Because We Are for his Traverse City Film Festival. The piece premiered at Tribeca and also played at Cannes this
month. The film
was inspired by the icon’s own difficult experience adopting a Malawian child
whose mother had died during childbirth. The AIDS epidemic has orphaned over one
million children in Malawi, and with adoption laws seemingly nonexistent, they are left with few options.
On August 16, Madonna turns 50 years old, and she has plenty of reason to celebrate. Her latest album, Hard Candy, debuted at number one on the Billboard chart, kicking long time rival diva Mariah Carey out of the coveted spot.
To support the album, Mrs. Ciccone-Ritchie will tour around the world shortly after celebrating the big 5-0, starting in Europa and ending in the good ol' U.S. of A.
In keeping with her recent conversion from Material Girl to Maternal Woman, Madonna has produced a documentary film entitled I Am Because We Are, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival about a month ago. The film deals with the growing AIDS crisis in Malawi, where (as of 2003) the median age of a person is 16.8 years, and 14.2% of the population is living with the virus.
Check out the trailer for I Am Because, followed by the tour dates below.
August 23 - Cardiff @ Millennium Stadium 26 - Nice @ Stade Charles Ehrmann 28 - Berlin @ Olympic Stadium
September 2 - Amsterdam @ Arena 4 - Dusseldorf @ LTU Arena 6 - Rome @ Olympic Stadium 9 - Frankfurt @ Commerzbank Arena 11 - London @ Wembley Stadium 20 - Paris @ Stade de France
October 3 - E. Rutherford @ Izod Center 6 - New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden 7 - New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square Garden 15 - Boston, Mass. @ TD BankNorth Garden 18 - Toronto, Canada @ Air Canada Centre 22 - Montreal, Canada @ Bell Centre 26 - Chicago, Ill. @ United Center 30 - Vancouver B.C. @ Place Stadium
November 1 - Oakland, Calif. @ Oracle Arena 4 - San Diego, Calif. @ Petco Park 6 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Dodger Stadium 8 - Las Vegas, Nev. @ MGM Grand Garden Arena 11 - Denver, Colo. @ Pepsi Center 16 - Houston, Texas @ Minute Maid Park 19 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ Wachovia Center 22 - Atlantic City, N.J. @ Boardwalk Hall 24 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Philips Arena 26 - Miami, Fl. @ Dolphin Stadium
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on December 13, 2007 2:31 PM|Permalink
Ladies and gentlemen, you may now commence with the general bitching and all-purpose Jann Wenner-bashing that accompanies each announcement of new Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Of the initial list of nominees that we published back in October, these five made it in:
Madonna
Leonard Cohen
John Mellencamp
The Ventures
The Dave Clark Five
Also enshrined: harmonica-shredder Little Walker in the sidemen category, while Philly soul production gurus Gamble & Huff will receive the newly-minted Ahmet Ertegun Award as non-performing honorees.
In honor of this year's inductees, Paste presents a tapestry of embedded YouTube videos:
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on October 17, 2007 10:20 AM|Permalink
It reads like a Major League Baseball contract: 10 years, $120 million, with an $18 million signing bonus. But Madonna isn't tending center field for the Yankees. Instead, she's signing over a share of the profits from all of her future musical projects to concert promoters Live Nation. That includes albums, DVDs, merchandise, fan club, website, TV/film projects, sponsorships, and, of course, touring revenue. Madonna is the first performer to join Live Nation's newly minted Artist Nation division.
"The idea that an iconic artist like Madonna would pick a promoter to be a long-term partner with truly validates our business model," Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino told Billboard.com.
Still, signing a 49 year-old performer to such a long-term deal seems like the equivalent of throwing bucketloads of money at Rickey Henderson (who is, in fact, younger than Madonna). After her 2003 flop American Life, Madonna did bounce back with 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor, but its singles had trouble making it onto mainstream radio playlists.
So what does this deal mean, other than both sides aim to strike it rich by exploiting the Madonna brand name? Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune says the deal "points the way toward a major-label system that will be even less about innovative music, and even more about innovative marketing." He also speculates that big-time corporations such as Apple and Microsoft might soon join Live Nation and Starbucks in forming record labels.
It's not really the same dynamic as the recent Radiohead / Nine Inch Nails declarations of independence, but the end result of the Madonna-Live Nation pact appears to be the same: the big four record labels (Warner Brothers, Capitol/EMI, Sony-BMG and Universal) should be seriously concerned about their future profit margins.
By
Jeremy Goldmeier
on October 1, 2007 12:45 PM|Permalink
At the tail end of last week, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame released its final list of nominees for induction in 2008. While pundits have long debated the Hall's notable omissions and methodology, it always makes for decent water cooler discussion to break down the candidates in a given year and debate their worthiness for admission.
To make the shortlist, artists have to have released a single at least 25 years ago. By that cut-off date - 1983 - music was starting to fragment and diversify in wildly unforeseen ways, mostly due to the rise of hip-hop and other electronic breeds of music. Hence, a highly eclectic group of nominees is up for consideration in 2008. Here are the nine lucky finalists:
Madonna
Beastie Boys
Leonard Cohen
John Mellencamp
Afrika Bambaataa
Chic
The Ventures
Donna Summer
The Dave Clark Five
So we've got the Queen of Pop, some hip-hop, disco, funk, British Invasion rock, surf music, and some singer-songwriter action to top it all off. Not a whole lot of straight-out rawk, though. Only five of these artists can make it in, but just how prestigious an honor is it? The Sex Pistols have some strong opinions on the matter.
By
Rebecca Bowen
on August 30, 2007 12:00 AM|Permalink
There are more than a dozen unauthorized biographies of Madonna, which pretty much puts her on par with Winston Churchill when it comes to literary relevancy. Famous for self-reinvention, it's not surprising that every five or 10 years she inspires another gossipy, cut-and-paste book, not to mention a few dozen graduate level theses. Judging by Amazon.com users (the most trusted of today's critics), the quality of these books are consistantly atrocious. "HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A TRAIN WRECK?" asks one, adding "I feel that I have wasted 20 hours."
Author Lucy O'Brien's upcoming contribution to the pile, Madonna: Like an Icon (10/30), seems likeliest to have some credibility. Having written for NME, the Guardian, Q and MOJO, O'Brien's past nonfiction includes a biography of Dusty Springfield and She Bop: The Definitive Encyclopedia of Women in Rock, Pop & Soul.
Referencing Amazon again, users who buy one Madonna book likely pick up another, so hey -- might as well.
By
Paste Staff
on April 4, 2006 12:00 AM|Permalink
Madonna has announced the Confessions Tour, with concerts across major U.S. cities, Canada, Europe and Japan. The tour will kick off in Los Angeles on May 21.
Her latest album, Confessions On A Dance Floor, debuted at #1 in 29 countries. Said Madonna, “I’m going to turn the world into one big dance floor.”
By
Paste Staff
on November 28, 2005 12:00 AM|Permalink
Madonna is topping charts all over the world with her Nov. 15 Warner Bros. release, Confessions On A Dance Floor, featuring the hit, “Hung Up.” The single is now one of 36 No. 1 dance singles from an artist who has defined the genre across nearly two decades.
The album, co-produced and co-written by Madonna and DJ wizard Stuart Price, is a return to the icon’s dance-music roots. It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 charts in the U.S. and in 24 other countries, including Japan, Portugal, Spain, Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and the U.K.
With sales over 350,000 units in the U.S. alone, Confessions On A Dance Floor, joins Madonna's two previous albums, Music and American Life, as her third straight No. 1 debut.
Three different versions of the album currently hold three out of four top download spots on the iTunes Music store, while "Hung Up" is at No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart.
We're bringing you some of the artists we think are the best of what's next. Featuring selections from Slow Runner, Janelle Monae, The Spring Standards and more!
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Life, Camera, Action: Movie Hopping While Rome burns
Live at Paste: Whitley
Maybe your boyfriend wants to get his Rock Band on and see AC/DC at Allstate. Or maybe your girlfriend really, really, really wants to see Madonna at the United Center. Whatever the reason, you’ll eventually have to abandon the cozy confines of Schubas or the Empty Bottle for the dreaded venue of the indie rock faithful: a stadium show. But with the right mindset, you can make your arena experience survivable-- and maybe even enjoyable. 
Signs of Life 2008: Best Music
Leona Naess - "All is Fair"
the everybodyfields - "Worth Keeping"
