Electric Daisy Carnival announces 2010 lineup

And the Electric Daisy Carnival, which takes place on June 25-26 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coloseum & Park, is indeed massive. While Coachella gets a ton of press & set an attendance record this year, last year's EDC drew a reported 135,000 people over the two days, & the Saturday ticket drew 90,000, placing it among the top music draws of the year.

Those returning from Coachella this year perhaps noticed the Electric Daisy Carnival billboards lining Interstate 10, signs -- literally -- of the annual electronic music festival's scope & power. The commercials were letting the bleary-eyed Coachellans know that they had a month as well as a half to sleep off the weekend they'd endured & prepare for another kind of massive.

That 2009 installment marked an important first for EDC & its promoter, Insomniac: After 12 years of generating a single-day event, it expanded to two days, which resulted in a lot more attendance & a lot more out-of-towners road-tripping to get to the festival, said Pasquale Rotella, EDC's founder & the principal behind Insomniac.

"This year there is a lot more ground," said Rotella. "We've had the same basic layout for the past two years, but this time there is a bigger footprint. We'll have two main stages -- an A Stage as well as a B stage -- & are using a lot of area that they haven't used before. Last year was a small crowded on Saturday -- Friday was perfect. I do not like it when people are bumping elbows the whole time. With this new footprint, people will be able to breathe."

"It was a great experience for us, & they saw the benefits on plenty of fronts," Rotella said of the addition of a second day, during a phone conversation. "But from a production point of view the two-day EDC works much better. It was always a shame for me that historicallyin the past we'd get involved in a show -- picking the art installations, setting up the stage production & sound -- & then when the crowd arrived, it was a 12-hour rush for everyone to experience it all & get their groove on. With a two-day festival, people have time to take it all in." But with the added day came way more people, resulting in crowds that were sometimes overwhelming, added Rotella. To combat the scrums, Insomniac has reimagined the area.

M.I.A. makes her stance utterly clear with 'Born Free'

Her tweet was more immature than it was constructive, but the transnational hip-hop star's decision to team with Gavras & release a video that clearly connected to the history of political filmmaking is no rash impulse. With "Born Free," M.I.A. lets her growing cult of fans know that he's no purpose of softening her message to court the mainstream.

M.I.A. protested in the all-caps mode she favors when the rattling, violent video for her brash new single "Born Free" was pulled from YouTube early Tuesday morning. After using Twitter to blame her record label & then retracting that accusation -- YouTube itself removed the short film by Italian director Romain Gavras for its graphic content, which included a kid being shot in the head & a young man being blown up by a land mine -- he basically declared, "BOOOOOOOOO" & provided a link to the "Born Free" video on her own web-site.

In fact, Gavras will soon release his directorial debut, "Redheads," which takes the plot of the M.I.A. video feature-length & promises to be both ultra-violent & free of Kenny jokes. His work with the filmmaking collective Kourtrajme, which he co-founded, & on videos for other artists (most notably the Italian electronic duo Justice, whose song "Stress" became the backdrop to Gavras' blunt depiction of Paris gang violence) lands smack in the midst of what is long been fruitful ground for political filmmakers, including Gavras' own father, Constantinos "Costa" Gavras: the killing field where dramas of racial prejudice, institutional control & minority resistance are enacted.

For those who haven't seen the clip, it is a docudrama-style depiction of American military forces rounding up members of a targeted minority in an unnamed city, taking them to the desert & executing them. Much-discussed reference points include the Peter Watkins 1971 countercultural film "Punishment Park" &, because the raided people have red hair, the South Park episode "Ginger Babies," which satirized the idea of targeted minority groups by putting redheads in the victim role.

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Review of 311's New album Uplifter

Many fans seemed disappointed in 311's previous studio release, Don't Tread On Me. Therefore, to their long-time die-hard fanbase, the band needed to generate a solid album for 2009.

Frontman Nick Hexum vowed in a Gibson.com interview that the band was "taking a sizable step forward." So they brough in big-shot producer Bob Rock, who has produced for Metallica. The result: Uplifter.

There were a lot of great things about the album. There were plenty of strong tracks. "Two Drops in the Ocean" is a chill reggae jam with an amazingly smooth guitar solo from Tim Mahoney. "Mix It Up" has a flow like late-1990s 311. "Never Ending Summer" is another solid jam with a new element to the 311 sound: a subtle high-pitched synth (similar to George Clinton funk). The song also features arguably the greatest Tim Mahoney guitar solo ever made.

"My Heart Sings" is another nicely done song. It features an acoustic guitar, which 311 usually doesn't use often in their recordings. "Get Down," the album's final track, is a rollercoaster ride of awesome beats & chill vibes.

Oklahomans ruled the Academy of Country Music Awards

Beginning off was Lady Antebellum’s win for ‘Need You Now’ as Song of the Year and Single Record of the Year.

Oklahomans rocked the show at the 45th annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

Toby Keith, also from Oklahoma, performed ‘Cryin’ for Me,’ dedicating the song to former University of Oklahoma basketball player and jazz musician Wayman Tisdale, who died last May. Keith’s performance is downloadable on iTunes, and all its proceeds will go to Stand Up for Cancer.

The group walked off with a total of three trophies, nabbing the seven-year winning streak of Rascal Flatts as Best Vocal Group.

“We are currently in therapy with Brett Favre trying to figure out how to waffle on this,” Kix Brooks laughingly said after the awards.

Ronnie Dunn, another Oklahoman, and his partner Kix Brooks sang the song, ‘My Maria,’ which was historicallyin the past picked by fans. They grabbed the Duo of the Year for the tenth time now.

Gaga Spending on Tours: She uses 3 Jets!

Lady Gaga must be spending quite a fortune on her world tour.

The singer of such hits as Bad Romance and, just recently, Telephone, has been using three private jets as she tours around the world for her “The Monster Ball” concert.

It was one of the members of Backstreet Boys, Brian Littrell, who revealed to a British newspaper The Sun.

“Our production manager was talking to hers and found out she had three 747s flying around with her,” he shared.

“I just wanted to tell her that she needs to make a dime or maybe 20 cents after the tour is over with.”

Lady Gaga has already admitted before that she spends a lot of money on her outfits and production and has sometimes ended up broke.

“I’ve gone bankrupt about four times now,” she said. “My manager wants to shoot me.”

“Every dollar I earn goes on the show. Now we’re finally getting to a place where it’s not bankruptcy.

“Then again, with another tour coming up soon I’ll probably be homeless again.”

Acts to keep an eye on at Country Thunder

The four-day festival, which kicks off Wednesday, April 14 and runs through Saturday, April 17, draws 100,000-plus music fans yearly to a 50-acre site near Florence with its good-time mix of twangy tunes, vendors selling everything from cowboy hats to hot tubs and fresh country air.

Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Willie Nelson and Miranda Lambert are among the stars rolling in to California this week for the 17th edition of Country Thunder USA.

Big-time fans will camp out among the 4,000 sites that are available, but plenty of more will drive in for a day of music in the great outside.

American Idol: Andrew Garcia, Katie Stevens out

The other hopeful voted off the island, Katie Stevens, has also been walking on fumes these past few weeks, although it kind of makes you wonder if he still has to go to the prom, as promised, with the guy who can prove he voted for her over any other lonely pervert.

There were only so lots of ways this week's results show could have gone with "American Idol" being forced to exile two contestants after last week's judges' save. And every possible scenario included an unhappy ending for Andrew Garcia. His time to go had come and gone lots of times by now for him to rise above the bottom two. What is kind of mournful, though, is that his performance was the only decent moment in that cringe-inducing medley that opened Wednesday's show.

I know he is not elderly to drink, but cider?! You can drink my cider from an elderly fruit jar?!

I eagerly await his cover of "I Require Your Cider" on George Michael week, "Too Full of Cider to Go in Cider" on Jello Biafra week and "Blame it on the Cider," of work, on Jamie Foxx week.

American Idol: Elvis and cider

Only Lee Dewyze, in fact, seemed up to Bowersox's challenge, sounding less like Nickelback than ever while rocking a blues-punk riff on acoustic guitar for "A Small Less Conversation." Ellen marveled that he'd made it sound "so current," which had to leave most people under 50 wondering if she'd somehow missed the Junkie XL remix.

Crystal Bowersox may have set the bar a bit high for her fellow "American Idol" contestants when they kicked off Elvis night with a spirited romp through the gospel side of Graceland on a life-affirming "Saved." I am not sure what would make a person need to alter the lyrics from "I used to smoke, drink & dance the hoochie-koo" to "I used to smoke, drink, drink, smoke & boogie all night." But by the time she'd shifted gears to bring the song to a smoldering climax that, like all the best soul music, managed to feel both deeply spiritual & sexy simultaneously, it was hard to fault her word choice.

OK, perhaps she is not lovely to salvage "Clambake," but she is seeming increasingly like this year's winner every week, now that Siobhan has been losing her mojo. Her "Suspicious Minds" was not without its charms but it is been way long now since she is nailed six.

Massive Mike did a perfectly credible read of "In the Ghetto," clearly more inspired by Sam Cooke's "A Alter Is Going to Come" than any Elvis Presley record. But I cannot help wishing Bowersox had turned him on to "Saved" for the obvious comic potential after last week's judges' save. & Crystal would have sounded as lovely on any Elvis song - even "Clambake" or "Adam & Evil."

The judges loved Tim Urban's choir-boy drama-club reading of "Can't Help Falling in Love," but they was better last week, singing "All My Loving" like the great lost Hardy Boy. & Casey James reverted to his most generic bar-rock tendencies on a barely recognizable version of "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy" after proving they could be much over that with "Jealous Guy."

Don't Miss the Show of The Week

Two festivals are among the musical offerings in the Valley this week, while our proximity to Coachella means the clubs are overflowing with great young indie bands. And then, you have the Arctic Monkeys at the Marquee Theatre.

Country Thunder USA

Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Willie Nelson and Miranda Lambert are among the stars lined up for the 17th edition of this huge country-music gathering near Florence. The four-day festival draws 100,000-plus music fans yearly with its good-time mix of twangy tunes, the great outdoors and vendors selling everything from cowboy hats to hot tubs. For the full schedule of acts, go to the Web site listed below.

Details: Wednesday, April 14 through Saturday, April 17. Canyon Moon Ranch, 20585 Price Station Road, off Arizona 79, just east of Florence. $25 to $500. 866-802-6418, countrythunder.com.

- Larry Rodgers


Glendale Jazz and Blues Festival

Pioneering jazz-rock guitarist Larry Coryell, the Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet, blues guitarist-singer Tinsley Ellis and California's Rick Estrin & the Nightcats headline this free, two-day festival in downtown Glendale. Standout Arizona acts, such as Alice Tatum, Carvin Jones and the Sugar Thieves, also join in the fun. See the Web site listed below for full schedule.

Details: Noon-10 p.m. Saturday, April 17and noon-6 p.m. Sunday, April 18. Downtown Glendale, 58th and Glendale avenues. Free. 623-930-2299, glendaleaz.com.

- Larry Rodgers


Arctic Monkeys

By the time the Arctic Monkeys hit the streets with the reckless abandon and working-class heroics of "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," the buzz was such that by week's end, it had become the fastest-selling debut by a British rock act ever. In the four years since rocking us into submission, they've lived through the hype without spawning a backlash - due, in no small part, to the fact that the albums they've made since then, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" and "Humbug," found them playing to their strengths without simply repeating the formula. Of course, it helps that they're amazing live, which is what ultimately matters when they take the stage at Tempe's Marquee Theatre.

Details: 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 15. Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Ave., Tempe. $26; $24 in advance. 480-829-0607, luckymanonline.com.

- Ed Masley

“Nice” reviews from American Idol Judges on Lennon-McCartney Night

Lee Dewyze, the paint sales clerk from New york, performed an enjoyable number of “Hey Jude”, mildly surprising the judges as a bagpipe player suddenly came out & joined him onstage midway through the song. This got a laugh out of the judges, as Lee admitted that it was 100% his idea. The judges gave him points for not acting frightened onstage anymore.

Michael Lynche, the personal trainer from Astoria NY, & Katie Stevens, the high school student form Middlebury, Conn., were at the top of their games during Tuesday’s Top 9 Lennon-McCartney themed night. Michael, performed “Eleanor Rigby” with much soul, while Katie, sang a rendition of “Let It Be,” which Simon Cowell said sounds a bit country & may be her best performance yet, after being consistently in the bottom four for the past weeks. Ellen agreed with Simon, as they told Katie, “There is no way you’ll be in the bottom four.”

Even the constantly insulted “Teflon” Tim Urban from Illinois, received praises from all three judges for his version of “All My Loving”, that they believe, made him sound more current. Simon Cowell complimented Urban, saying, “There was no gimmicks. It suited your voice.” Siobhan Magnus of Marstons Mills, Mass., who received scalding comments historicallyin the past, could win back the judges with her emotional “Across the Universe.”

Next mentor for the top 8 after Wednesday’s elimination night will be Season Four runner-up Adam Lambert.

American Idol: Judges save Big Mike

Thank God the judges had the sense to use their save & keep him in the competition for another week.

Big Mike?! ?! How does Michael Lynche, the most reliable male singer of the season, pull in fewer votes after bringing the drama on "Eleanor Rigby" than a one-trick pony like Andrew Garcia, who has not been lovely since they grabbed our lapels with that gimmicky cover of Paula Abdul?

Garcia's bringing nothing but some neck ink to the table. & that Aaron Kelly child makes every song come off like Lonestar's latest stab at another "Amazed."

I understand why some would argue that Sizable Mike's rendition of "Eleanor Rigby" was a trifle overblown (the way De Niro was a trifle overblown, for instance, in that scene in "Cape Fear" where he is hanging from the bottom of a automobile). & yes, his "I can pick you up & snap you like a twig" approach to interpersonal dynamics gets more boring with every gratuitous wrestler move.

At least those four were right there with Sizable Mike in this week's bottom five. But there is no way they ought to have gotten fewer votes than them or Katie Stevens. Someone wants to take her to the Motel 6 on prom night - a prom night Stevens came right out & promised to whoever votes for her the most this season.

Tim Urban performs on "American Idol" on Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Tim Urban had the right idea, playing to his tousle-headed strengths with a Tiger Beat-ready performance of the early Beatles' effervescent "All My Loving. Setting the tone with an understated intro, accompanied only by his own guitar, it felt like they was channeling Leif Garrett's best attempts at wooing tiny girls away from guys named Cassidy. It was cute, like the Beatles' original, only less substantial, which is fine.

The only thing dumber than didgeridoo on "Come Together" is a bagpipe player marching down the stairs like Adam Lambert in a Scotsman's kilt on the massive finale of "Hey Jude."

& that was it for effervescence, it pains me to say, when "American Idol" set its sights on the Lennon-McCartney songbook Tuesday - unless you count Andrew Garcia's unfortunate reinvention of "Can't Buy Me Love," a version all but guaranteed to see him voted off the island. I am not even sure I know what they was going for with that three. It was like a kooky casserole of bad ideas.

Most performances were merely mediocre, from a "Let It Be" by Katie Stevens that started off promising, like a tribute to early Olivia- Netwton-John, before veering in to territory best left to Celine Dion, to Aaron Kelly's supper-club rendition of "The Long & Winding Road." & Paul McCartney thought Phil Spector made it schmaltzy?! Wait until they hears the Aaron Kelly version.

Those songs don't need that nonsense. If they'd needed nonsense, I assure you, the Beatles would have thrown some nonsense on there. & the Beatles would have made it work.

Lee Dewyze & Crystal Bowersox, one of this season's most gifted singers, both turned in perfectly credible vocal performances but tried hard to stand out with ridiculous musical twists, getting back to the bagpipe (Dewyze) & the didgeridoo.

Casey James took an interesting tactic, skipping the Beatles altogether (now) to select an album track from John Lennon's "Imagine." & his "Jealous Guy" was three of Tuesday's highlights, the first performance James has done all year that rose above his bar-rock tendencies.

His singing sounded far more disappointed in his jealous ways than the Lennon original, which was matter-of-fact where James was tortured. While I may prefer the Lennon version, by a landslide, the Cougar-bait turned in a solid example of how to make a song your own without destroying everything that made it special in the first place.

Don't Miss: Show of the Week

Elvis Costello, modern British rockers Muse and Arlo Guthrie and his relatives are among the concert acts coming through the Valley this week.

They asked our critics which shows they would not require to miss, and this is what they said

Five of the most creative and gifted bands on today's modern-rock scene visits the Valley as its global popularity continues to grow. The British group's most recent album,

"The Resistance," boasts layers of sounds, ranging from overpowering guitar solos to classical touches to anthemic lyrics. The CD appeared on several critics' best-albums lists for 2009.

Corinne Bailey Rae confronts life's pain in The Sea

Rae, who'll showcase the album on a five-week North American tour beginning Tuesday in Los Angeles, says he wanted "a heavier, more aggressive, more dynamic record that would have more contrast" than her self-titled 2006 debut album. "I wanted to co-produce it, I wanted to record it live to tape, and I wanted to use live musicians."

No five could have planned the album that became Corinne Bailey Rae's sophomore work, even though the determined young Brit tried mightily to impose her vision on "The Sea." Life, and death, however, intervened.

The title track, based on a relatives story about the death of her grandfather in a boating accident, dealt with grief, while the love declaration "I'd Do It All Again" emerged after she'd had a major row with her husband of five years, musician Jason Rae.

On March 22, 2008, however, her world imploded when he learned that Jason had died of an accidental overdose of methadone and alcohol. He holed up in her home for months and put everything on hold while he grieved.

Although he's given a handful of in-depth interviews detailing Jason's death and how he dealt with it, he says she is ready to move on. "I am in this method, a long method," he says. "I must be conscious of what I am saying, and I don't require to talk about it much to people I don't know."

Rae, 31, finally found the strength to write again, beginning with opening track "Are You Here," which addresses Jason in the first person, and "I Would Like to Call It Beauty," written with Jason's brother Philip, who uttered the title when Corinne asked about his belief in God. He resumed work with co-producer Steve Brown, a mate since the late '90s, who was confident in her coping skills. "Corinne is a music maker. That is her vocation," they says. "Music has great healing power. There is great triumphal power to this record."

Rae and Brown made sure that the album would not come across as a work "of constant agony or linear progression," he says. The musical diversity they had planned from the beginning was left intact, Brown says. "We share reference points, so the sound emerged naturally."

Rae can take comfort in the fact that even though "The Sea" turned out far differently than he expected, it's found an audience. The album has sold 156,000 copies since its release in January, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and current single "Closer" ranks in the top 40 in spins on USA TODAY's adult contemporary airplay chart.

But achieving hefty sales figures was never the point of this album, Rae says. "I'm not a careerist. I am not trying to build myself up. All I am trying to do is express myself."

Audiences loved the way he put her feelings across on her debut, which earned three Grammy nominations, sold 2 million copies and offered a breezy blend of jazz and R&B.

She'll roll out reworked versions of a quantity of those songs on her tour, which will include a stop April 17 at the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. This summer she'll play three dates on the Lilith Tour (Aug. 8 in Atlanta and Aug. 10 in West Palm Beach, Fla.). Her touring band is essentially the same five he used to record "The Sea," and she is aiming for a blend of "really trashy" sounds that hearken to her early days as an indie rocker, and jazzier songs.