We know it’s been said in every blog post or review mentioning 21-year-old London-born/ Ireland-raised newcomer Maverick Sabre, but still, it’s something that must be repeated: What an odd little voice this dude has! Cue the eye-rolling music crit math: Sabre’s nasally, near-spoof-of-funk-vocalists croak sounds as if Mike Posner and Amy Winehouse had a baby [...]

Personal Life is a London based collective formed by musician/producer Robert Strauss (BBE, Soulheaven, Yoruba, Freerange) featuring the vocals of Stuart Lisbie and key players (most notably from Amy Winehouse's Back to Black band). They have a full-length album in...

Well before British divas Adele and the late Amy Winehouse scored critical and commercial success for their takes on retro R&B;, fiery American soul siren Nikka Costa had already blazed her own distinctive trail through vintage sounds. Costa first made herself known in the states with the u...

Nothing beats a good shocking TV moment. It’s what the idiotbox is made for— MIA giving America the finger at Superbowl?  Meh. Small fry. Not even a Richter 3 on the offensivometer. For true knuckle chompingly bad moments you need to look to the pros: the maniacs, drunkards, junkies, fuck ups, numbskulls and pranksters of pop who’ve- intentionally or not- bitch slapped the schedules with some off-script mayhem. Whether they’ve utilised baffling incompetence, inventive expletives, rampaging ego, or just straight up insanity, today we celebrate the musicians who drop clangers while the cameras roll. And before you ...

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards are almost upon us! Hey, we'd love to help you with your office pools and living room side-bets with some sure-thing Vegas-ready odds. However, we always seem to be dead wrong (fucking Esperanza Spalding). So here are some completely arbitrary, critical decisions on who should win the nine biggest categories, just in case you want to know who we're rooting for on the SPIN couch. Everything You Need to Know About the 54th Grammy Awards Nominations Record of the Year Adele - "Rolling in the Deep" Bon Iver - "Holocene" Bruno Mars - "Grenade" Mumford & Sons - "The Cave" Katy Perry - "Firework" Who Should Win: Adele Why: This one goes to the producers, engineers, and performer for making the total pop package. Bon Iver and Mumford are a little to insular, Bruno and Katy a little too eager. Adele somehow lives right in between, both muted and bombastic, rockist-pleasing "authentic" and poptimist-pleasing immediate. It’s the "Heart Shaped Box" of a new generation. We had it all! Album of the Year Adele - 21 Foo Fighters - Wasting Light Lady Gaga - Born This Way Bruno Mars - Doo-Wops & Hooligans Rihanna - Loud Who Should Win: Lady Gaga Why: It did rank the highest of these five albums on our Top 50 Albums of 2011 list , and we can’t exactly give the award to Fucked Up, can we? Writes our own Mikael Wood: "Beneath the hair and makeup and arena-razing disco-metal grooves, Born This Way delivers a message that old glamazon Pete Seeger could dig: She thinks pop can still move policy, and she might be right." Song of the Year Kanye West - “All of the Lights” (songwriters: Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Really Doe, & Malik Yusef) Mumford & Sons - “The Cave” (songwriters: Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston) Bruno Mars - “Grenade” (songwriters: Brody Brown, Claude Kelly, The Smeezingtons & Andrew Wyatt) Bon Iver - “Holocene” (songwriter: Justin Vernon) Adele - "Rolling in the Deep" (songwriters: Adele & Paul Epworth) Who Should Win: Adele Why: This one goes to the songwriter, and naturally we'd want to give it to the co-writer of our No. 1 single of 2011 , a blown-out blowback of relationship bluster and that high D that can drown out car alarms. Best New Artist The Band Perry Bon Iver J. Cole Nicki Minaj Skrillex Who Should Win: Skrillex Why: Before you Bon Iver fans tear us limb from limb in the comments section, let us clarify. Although we clearly love Bon Iver's extra-naked, sensitive, '80s AM gold take on folk rock, our guyliner-and-glasses pal is essentially helping reinvent a new musical language of bowel-busting bass and whirring industrial noise. Bon Iver's forbear Bruce Hornsby already won this very award in 1987, while an electronic artist has never taken one home. Let's hear it for drawing new blood. Best Rock Album Jeff Beck - Rock ‘n’ Roll Party (Honoring Les Paul) Foo Fighters - Wasting Light Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown Red Hot Chili Peppers - I’m With You Wilco - The Whole Love Who Should Win: Foo Fighters Why: Because exactly one album on this list actually "rocks." Best R&B; Album ...

I recently saw Michael Stafford hailed as ‘the new Amy Winehouse’. There’s already something wrong with such a comparison: for starters, even at its best, Frank was merely a promising debut album, one that hinted at greatness, which, as we all know, arrived with Back to Black in 2007. On the evidence of Lonely Are The Brave, [...] Maverick Sabre – Lonely Are The Brave was originally published on The Blue Walrus

Tony Bennett pulled out all the stops for his Grammy-nominated Duets II album, joining forces with some of the most talented musicians of the last decade such as Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga. And the streak continues as we get a music video for his sonic rendezvous with John Mayer, “One For My Baby (One ... More »

The inquest into Amy Winehouse's death may be declared invalid since the coroner in charge of conducting the investigation did not have the correct qualifications for the role. In essence, she wasn't qualified to do the job. Ouch. That sucks. In October, Suzanne Greenaway stated that Winehouse had

Category:  Reviews Sub Category:  Tunes Summary:  TUNE OF THE MONTH Amy Winehouse Half Time (Island Univeral) Taken from Amy Winehouse’s ‘Lioness Hidden Treasures’ album, the recording of this standout moment began back in August 2002, with Salaam Remi laying down ‘Half Time’ during the ‘Frank’ sessions. Finished by Questlove of The Roots, this is the Winehouse school of jazz at it’s soulful best. A real Winehouse classic. 5/5 Michael Kiwanuka Home Again EP (Communion/Polydor) Gallery Options Face book Logo on Gallery On:  "" Enter the Competition:  "" Vote for this Photo:  "" Include in Section Feed:  "" read more

But late singer's father says they've been told the verdict's 'not in any doubt'

Feb 2, 2012's Day in Pop digest

It is possible that the circumstances surrounding Amy Winehouse’s death will have to be re-examined after the coroner who carried out her inquest has resigned. The Guardian has reported today that Suzanne Greenaway, coroner at the Winehouse hearing has been found to have insufficient experience to be employed in that capacity in the UK. In a somewhat dubious example of nepotism, Greenaway was given her position by husband St Pancras coroner Andrew Reid, who has since released the following statement; "I appointed my wife as an assistant deputy coroner as I believed at the time that her experience as ...

But singer's father Mitch tells people to ignore 'nonsense'

The coroner who oversaw the inquest into the death of singer Amy Winehouse has resigned after her qualifications were questioned, her boss said Wednesday — raising the possibility the investigation may have to be held again. Winehouse’s relatives said they were still absorbing the implications of the news and were seeking legal advice. Read more

The first round of nominees were announced for the German ECHO Awards with Adele, Lady Gaga and the late Amy Winehouse nominated for Best International Female Artist, Rock/Pop. Lana Del Rey and Gotye are among the ceremony's performers.