Liz Phair on new record: 'I'm going to get this one right'

Liz Phair is working on a new album, and last week in Los Angeles she shared her dreams for it. "My fantasy is that this comes out on Matador," she says, referring to the famed independent label that released her first three albums, including the career-defining 1993 debut "Exile in Guyville."

She's going to have to record it before she worries about finding a label, but Phair hopes to be on the road this fall, either previewing or supporting what she says will be a rock-focused album. 

Phair was last heard on 2010's "Funstyle," an Internet release that placed sarcasm and experimentation ahead of songcraft. It was a wild left turn from her last major-label effort, 2005's "Somebody's Miracle," an album that was drenched in studio gloss and attempted to force Top-40 hooks into Phair's loose, conversational approach. Phair resurfaces next week with an end-credits song to the DreamWorks/Touchstone film "People Like Us," a song that is a collaboration with Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman.

Pop & Hiss will have more on the partnership in coming days, but speaking on the afternoon of the film's premiere Phair promised that fans wouldn't have to wait too long for a new album. Unlike the off-the-cuff "Funstyle," songs that Phair said cost her management and label deals, the new record will be a more cohesive affair.

"I’m working on a proper rock record, a good, old-school rock record. Finally. I had a lot of issues to work out," Phair says, laughing and slinking into her chair.

"But this record has been a very beautiful experience. I’m not going to screw up the production, either. I’m going to get this one right. I have my head screwed on right. I haven’t been this way in a long time."

She credits her performance in 2010 at the Matador's 21st anniversary concerts in Las Vegas as reinvigorating her approach to music. Phair shared a stage with the likes of Guided by Voices and Yo La Tengo, and even dueted with Ted Leo.

"Oh, my God, what a godsend that was," she says of the experience. "What an amazing homecoming. That ended a whole cycle of pain. It was a rebirth. I remembered who I once was, and they remembered not to hate me so much. They remembered that it’s not all that ferociously awful, what I have done."

Ice-T gets back to hip-hop roots in ‘The Art of Rap’

In the new film ‘Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap,’ Ice-T reels in artists like Dr. Dre, Kanye West and Eminem to tell the story of hip-hop’s gritty beginnings.
“Look around you,” says Ice-T. “Where are the Bentleys?”

Even amid the pleasantly neutral setting of a Hollywood press day, there’s still one topic that gets the 54-year-old rapper-actor riled up, and it’s not his 12 seasons on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

“In rap, everyone is driving a Bentley and drinking Cristal,” says Ice-T, born Tracy Marrow. “That’s not reality. We have a war, we have a black president, we have people unemployed, we have people losing their homes, we have some pretty serious stuff and music is not reflecting it. It’s like everything is Lady Gaga and life is perfect.”

To remind the public of a time when hip-hop more regularly addressed societal concerns comes Ice-T’s directorial debut, “Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap.”

The documentary -- out this week -- offers candid interviews with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Grandmaster Caz, Kanye West, Mos Def, Nas, Rakim and many others, probing the masters of the genre on their inspiration. The film stops short, however, of presenting a thesis. Still, Ice-T had a mission: To capture secrets of the craft from as many artists as possible, and remind artists, fans and moguls that rap is more than “money, cars, girls, jewelry or beefs.”

The film is arriving at a time when other hip-hop pioneers are taking a preservationist view toward the genre. In L.A., acclaimed indie artist Murs is staging a six-month-long hip-hop performance series, “Through the Mic,” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Superstar Jay-Z has also become a curator of sorts, and is programming a multi-genre, two-day festival in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend.

As one of L.A’s groundbreaking rap pioneers, Ice-T specialized in bringing a moralistic bent to inner-city tales. His 1988 single “Colors,” from the film of the same name, captured the toll L.A. gang life has on a family, and 1992’s “Cop Killer” was a ferocious reaction against the LAPD following the beating of Rodney King.

The latter, recorded with his rock band Body Count, galvanized those who fought for explicit content stickers on albums, and the violence-in-lyrics controversy ultimately led to his split from Warner Bros. Records. His 1993 “Race War” addressed whether any lessons had been learned from the L.A. riots (they had), and now “The Art of Rap” culls stories from many who had a hand in hip-hop’s countercultural beginnings.

Today, Ice-T’s acting and celebrity persona have arguably eclipsed his rap roots. His résumé ranges from the tough 1991 film “New Jack City” to the blithe, unscripted E! series “Ice Loves Coco.” But despite venturing out of the studio and in front of the camera, Ice-T’s plea to return substance to the pop charts isn’t just talk.

Before the 'Huntsman': Snow White's life in pop songs

Kristen Stewart's Snow White re-imagines the character as an unbreakable warrior in "Snow White and the Huntsman." Yet as resilient as Stewart's White may be, chances are she won't ever inspire a song written by a Beatle. 

The Brothers Grimm tale remains a durable one, evidenced not just by "Snow White and the Huntsman" but this year's "Mirror Mirror." Snow White has endured cultural shifts. She's been animated, she's been the center of a romantic comedy and she's been romanticized by indie rockers and Snoop Dogg alike. 

Snow White's musical history may not be as rich as her lineage in literature or film, but it exists. 

"Snow White and the Huntsman" has a signature song of its own, and it's safe to say Florence + the Machine's "Breath of Life" is no "Whistle While You Work," its beat a soldier's march and its backing vocals a monk-like chant. "Breath of Life" puts belter Florence Welch in Stewart's fighting role, with the singer channelling an optimistic heroine looking for reasons to carry on. 

There are no seven dwarfs in Florence + the Machine's song, and it definitely is not set in a world named after a male appendage. Wait ... what? As the examples below will show, musicians have had some rather colorful interpretations of the fairy tale. 

Chris Cornell muses on Soundgarden, 'Avengers' and 'Sesame Street'

It's been a decade and a half since Soundgarden released a wholly new song. A first song from the reunited act's recent recording session was unveiled this week, and the hard-rock vets had a little help getting the word out. Soundgarden attached itself to  Marvel super-hero vehicle "The Avengers," and leader Chris Cornell said aligning with the likes of Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk was something of a necessity. 

"In the grand scheme of things, the record business is completely different than it was when we last put out a record," Cornell told Pop & Hiss. That was the pre-Napster days of 1996, and the band's "Down on the Upside" was following its 1994 chart-topping blockbuster "Superunknown," an album that brought '70s-inspired metal ferocity and somber melodic intricacy to the grunge era. 

"In other words," Cornell said, "there needs to be some tie-in [today]. Without one, it’s great that you made a record and recorded a song, but no one’s going to hear it -- have a nice day. The problem, really, isn’t so much as finding a tie-in, but finding one you can get behind, where you can feel 100 percent comfortable that there is a partner." 

Linking with "The Avengers" was a simple decision for the band, Cornell said. Though Cornell is no comic geek, guitarist Kim Thayil is, said Cornell, who described his bandmate as someone who "knows every detail of every character and when they were conceived and what metamorphosis they went through."

For his part, Cornell said past Marvel films such as "Iron Man" rank as high with him as the works of digital animation house Pixar, as he praised the Robert Downey Jr. hit for its blend of comedy and action. "The Avengers" will be released May 4, and the soundtrack, dubbed "Avengers Assemble," will be released May 1.

"A lot of the other tie-ins that someone may propose to a band sitting in the room are not so great," Cornell said. "They don’t ring so well in your ears, especially if you’re a rock band that started as an indie band and you’ve been around for over 25 years. It takes some getting used to, some of these concepts, like you go out on and tour and they try to put a banner from a cellphone company somewhere near your stage.

"So this," continued Cornell, "was the best possible result of having a partnership. This is a movie that’s part of a series that we all like, and part of a history of Marvel that we all like."

Han Solo meets Jason Derulo in Kinect Star Wars

"Star Wars" character Han Solo, apparently, is a rather big Jason Derulo fan. In fact, the smuggler captain of the Millennium Falcon is a master of such dance moves as the "trash compactor" and the "double blaster," as revealed today in a heavily circulated clip of new Xbox 360 game Kinect Star Wars. In the scene, a pixelated version of Solo gets down in a Cloud City club to a remix of Derulo's 2010 hit "Ridin' Solo."

Solo, made famous by Harrison Ford in the films, is seen in the game in a neutral venue. Others on the dance floor include off-duty Stormtroopers, and Solo even gets into a dance-off with traitor Lando Calrissian. Derulo's lyrics have been replaced with "Star Wars"-specific verses (Kottke.org transcribed them), and instead of championing newfound singledom, the Kinect Star Wars take on "Ridin' Solo" is all about celebrating the freedom of no longer being frozen. A sample: "I'm so happy the carbonite is gone."

This isn't the first clip to circulate from the Kinect Star Wars mini-game dubbed "Galactic Danceoff." A game trailer earlier revealed a "Star Wars" makeover of "Y.M.C.A.," which featured this especially choice lyric: "It's conscription, but I'm sure you will find many ways to have a good time."

The game's official website promises a total of 15 songs. Derulo's opinion of the song is not yet known. We asked. Kinect Star Wars is in stores Tuesday. 

No luck needed, 'Hunger Games' dominates U.S. pop chart

The musical companion to "The Hunger Games" emerged as the clear leader on this week's pop chart, bolstered by contributions from the likes of Taylor Swift, the Arcade Fire, the Decemberists and Maroon 5, among many others. The disc, "The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 and Beyond," sold 175,000 copies in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan, easily placing it ahead of longtime chart ruler Adele. 

However, "The Hunger Games" didn't quite dominate the music industry in the way it did the film business this past week, as the instant blockbuster debuted with a staggering $155 million take at the box office, but it is the first soundtrack to top the Billboard charts since "Michael Jackson's This Is It" did so in late 2009. Yet the soundtrack, released by Universal Republic, is something of a stand-alone set piece, as only three of its 16 tracks are actually in the film. Those that made the cinematic cut can be heard in the end credits. 

Alongside its roster of big-name artists, the soundtrack does showcase two students from the USC Thornton School of Music. Singer-songwriter Jayme Dee has a song of her own, “Rules,” on the album, and junior Rozzi Crane is featured singing with Maroon 5 on the track “Come Away.” 

The soundtrack is one of five debuts inside the top 10, but the only real contender for the top spot. Adele's Grammy-winning "21" is at No. 2 this week, adding an additional 130,000 sales to its tally of more than 8.3 million.

The major label debut from pop band the Shins, "Port of Morrow," lands at No. 3. The former Sub Pop act is now working for Sony's Columbia Records, and "Port of Morrow" sold a little more than 74,000 copies this week.The Shins' final album for Sub Pop, 2007's "Wincing the Night Away," bowed at No. 2 after selling 118,000 copies in its first week.

Controversy-courting local hip-hop outfit Odd Future is also working with Sony, partnering with the major for its own Odd Future Records, and the act scores a No. 5 debut this week with  "The OF Tape Vol. 2." The collection sold 40,000 copies this week. It's similar to where the act's creative center, Tyler, the Creator, entered the chart about one year ago. His "Goblin," released independently on XL Recordings, also landed at No. 5, having sold 45,000 copies in its first week. 

Is corporate rock so desolate we're excited about Tenacious D?

In about three weeks the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will begin its two-week run, welcoming blues rockers the Black Keys in their new role as rock 'n' roll headliners. It will be a big moment for the duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, whose headliner status has arrived a decade into their career.

In terms of no-frills, working-class rock 'n' roll, the Black Keys are an anomaly at the top of the Coachella bill, which features hip-hop pioneer Dr. Dre and more experimental rock acts such as Radiohead and At the Drive-In. Beyond Coachella, the Black Keys are also outside the norm of what has typically passed for popular rock, their scruff the antithesis of the wait-for-the-chorus power chord release of, say, the Foo Fighters. 

Perhaps that's why the return of Tenacious D feels rather quaint. The pair of Jack Black and Kyle Gass aren't parodying current trends as much as our nostalgic remembrances of rock 'n' roll stars of a bygone era. A new album, "Rize of the Phoenix," is due May 15 and was teased Tuesday with an extended, movie-parodying clip titled "To Be the Best." Foo Fighter leader Dave Grohl appears, and his likable self-deprecation isn't all that removed from the attitude of these rock-loving jokesters.

Tenacious D, for instance, have a blast poking fun at their very own ironic-but-not-ironic ways. As evidence, one of the central conceits of this new video is the poorly received 2006 Tenacious D film "The Pick of Destiny." Elsewhere, crooner Josh Groban has a cameo, and more puzzling is the fact that no one seems to mind when Val Kilmer is killed. Evidently, plenty is disposable in the world of Tenacious D. 

Unlike the video below, Tenacious D's new song, the title track, isn't embeddable due to non-newspaper-friendly language. Name a classic rock band, and there's likely a reference in the tune, but far more fun is the cinematic teaser for the album. 

Oscar winner 'Man or Muppet' goes where no Muppet has gone before

The Bret McKenzie-penned "Man or Muppet," an identity crisis ballad that's the musical centerpiece of Walt Disney Pictures' 2011 film "The Muppets," has made Muppet history. Previous Muppet-related songs have been nominated for an Academy Award, but "Man or Muppet" marks the first-ever Oscar win for a Muppet film. Of course, "Man or Muppet" had solid odds, as it was competing against only one other song. 

Last year, four songs were nominated, and the winning track was Randy Newman’s “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3.”  McKenzie was asked backstage for his thoughts on this year's svelte original song Oscar category. "Man or Muppet" was competing against “Real in Rio,” from the animated film “Rio.”

"Well, I am not sure how [or] why they only nominated two songs, but I was very happy with that situation," McKenzie said, dodging the question with a little humor. "I think the system, you know, leads itself toward musicals instead of songs."

PHOTOS: Red carpet arrivals | Quotes | Winners | Best & Worst

Qualifying songs (there were 39 this year) are screened to voting members of the Film Academy’s music branch, who rate them according to a point system. Nominees were determined by averaged points, and there could be a maximum of five. McKenzie acknowledged that "Muppets" director James Bobin and star Jason Segel shared in the credit, if not the songwriting.

"To be honest, I think it was one of those musical numbers where everyone did a great job," he said. "James Bobin, the director, did such a cool video. Jason Segel just channeled his -- I don't know -- he went really deep in his performance, both in the recording and on the screen."

Oscar 2012: Two nominated songs, lots of questions

With all due respect to all those involved in the original composition of this year's Oscar-nominated songs, the Bret McKenzie-penned “Man or Muppet” and the Brazilian-tinged “Real in Rio,” producers have done viewers a favor in keeping the songs off the telecast.

When music gets tangled up in award shows, the results aren't always pretty. Remember all those all-star Grammy mash-ups? Yet with only two songs nominated for an Oscar this year, the show's producers have thrown it in viewer's faces: "This is all voters could come up with?" 

It wasn't for a lack of options. A total of 39 tunes were up for consideration for the best original song Oscar. Up to five songs can get nominated, and academy rules ensure there will either be zero songs or a minimum of two. This year, the field pits "Man or Muppet," from Walt Disney Pictures’ “The Muppets,” against "Real in Rio," from the 20^th Century Fox film “Rio."

FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2012

What follows is a look at who stands to win, how this happened, who should have been nominated and what, if anything, should be done to change the process so more songs are considered.

'The Secret World of Arrietty' has a fairytale in its music

American audiences will first hear the music of French composer Cécile Corbel in "The Secret World of Arrietty," the latest fairy tale from Studio Ghibli. Yet the story of how Japan's revered animation house plucked the harpist from near-obscurity is one ripe for motion-picture folklore itself. 

Corbel packed her music with a letter and mailed the package on an inter-continental journey to Ghibli headquarters and awaited a response that she knew likely wouldn't come. "I wrote a letter to the head producers over there and I was not expecting much," said Corbel, who spoke to Pop & Hiss via a translator. The artist has released multiple albums in her native country, and said she was drawn to the works of Studio Ghibli -- "Ponyo" and "Howl's Moving Castle," among them -- for the way in which they blend ecological themes with fanciful storytelling that pulls from ancient, mythical beliefs.  

"I sent them my latest album as a sort of a fan thing," she said. "I never thought I'd be working for the studio. I truly expected nothing in return."

What's more, the composer continued to be surprised at how the music remained untouched as the film was released around the globe. "The Secret World of Arrietty" opens in the U.S. Friday, brought to these shores courtesy of Walt Disney Studios. The latter added a song from Bridgit Mendler, the Disney Channel star who is the U.S. voice of Arrietty, but the new song appears in the credits and doesn't supplant any of Corbel's more delicate, airy work.

"We talked about Bridgit resinging one of the songs but we ultimately decided that wasn't that good of an idea," said veteran producer Frank Marshall, who also had a production credit on the English-language edition of "Ponyo." "Cécile's songs are so unique and we wanted to keep the film as it was. We've done two of these now and we've very respectful of what Ghibli has created. Our job is to tweak it a bit for the North American audience, but the music is so universal that it works wonderfully in the film."

Corbel's harp work draws on Celtic and folk traditions, and it gives "The Secret World of Arrietty," the directorial debut of Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a far more subtle backdrop than the traditional orchestral score. It's also very exact and tiny, reflecting the world of the film, which is based on “The Borrowers,” Mary Norton’s 1952 children’s book about the minuscule people who live in the nooks and crannies of big people's homes.

"When I first saw the movie I was kind of surprised," Marshall said of the music. "It's so unusual for the movie. It's not Japanese instruments, yet it completely works because this world that we're watching could be anywhere."