Filed under: News, Exclusive

Sneak Attack Media

It's hard not to get all mystical about Iceland.

After all, it's the land of unpronounceable volcanoes like Eyjafjallajökull, and magical pixie musicians like Bjork and Sigur Ros. It's also home to fast-rising Icelandic folk-pop outfit Of Monsters and Men, a six-piece who are more than comfortable embracing the arcane. To hear them tell it, Iceland is basically like being north of the Wall in Game of Thrones.

Vocalist-guitarist Ragnar "Raggi" Pórhallsson and drummer Arnar Hilmarsson say they can't deny that the supernatural exists -- and neither can their parents. Their fathers' tales of ghosts and trolls back home provide inspiration behind the phantasmal storytelling on the band's My Head is an Animal album.

Filed under: News

Keystone Hulton Archive

Cotchford Farm, a piece of property that has historical significance for fans of both morbid rock 'n' roll deaths and Tigger's honey-obsessed best friend, is for sale.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Cotchford Farm was put on the market last week for £2 million ($3,220,000 US). The home, located in East Sussex, England, is perhaps best known as the site of Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones' death in July 1969, where he was found in the swimming pool. Prior to Jones owning the property it was the home of author A.A. Milne, who wrote the Winnie-the-Pooh books.

The home consists of six bedrooms and is spread out over three floors. It also still contains the infamous swimming pool as well as colored glass panes Jones installed and a "pink fluorescent light tube" which Jones put into the home. Jones reportedly purchased the home in 1968 for £35,000 ($56,350 US).

And if anybody doubts the home's authenticity in rock history, the owner Alastair Johns has some documentation to prove it. After buying the place in 1970, Johns began receiving bills still addressed to Jones.

"That's how I know that, in nine months, Jones got through 4,000 gallons of oil trying to heat the swimming pool," Johns said.

The pool was refurbished with the original pool tiles sold to fans for £100 ($161 US) a pop. The sale ended up creating £12,000 ($19,320 US) in Johns' pocket.

Johns says Jones' fans continue to visit the property and "are rather nice" compared to the "Winnie-the-Pooh crowd," who believe they can go and visit whenever they like.

Days after Jones' death, the Rolling Stones staged a massive concert in London's Hyde Park, their first show featuring new guitarist Mick Taylor.

Meanwhile, Stones singer Mick Jagger will appear and perform on Saturday Night Live's season finale this week. The musician is getting help from the Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire. Rolling Stone reports that any chance of Keith Richards appearing is next to none.

"I spoke to Mick and he said it's something that he said yes to many months ago, so he's just doing it," Richards says. "He's on his own."

Filed under: News, Exclusive

Truth & Soul

Lee Fields just might be the next great late-blooming soul singer in a line that includes Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley and Naomi Shelton. But we would never have gotten to hear Fields if he knew how to fry fish properly.

The 62 year-old Fields has been been slogging it out in the clubs for 43 years, but he almost packed it in during the '80s -- long before his current renaissance.

"The '80s were a low point in my career," Fields tells Spinner. "Music was changing and I felt out of place. I had to adapt to provide for my family."

Fields began to dabble in real estate and he almost gave up music to open a fish diner. But it was the sound advice of a loyal wife that kept him on the music path.

Filed under: News, News Today, Oh Boy!

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Keith Richards says he won't join Mick Jagger on "SNL." [Rolling Stone]

Watch people do tricks with vinyl records. It's seriously the most amazing thing we've seen today, aside from the video below. [Buzzfeed]

Ringo Starr lost his photos of the Beatles. [Rolling Stone]

Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty's blood painting wasn't as sought-after as people thought it would be. Shocker. [Guardian]

Filed under: News

Dave M. Benett, Getty Images

Turns out Sir Paul McCartney is just as noble as his knighthood would suggest. The ex-Beatle saved producer-extraordinaire Mark Ronson from drowning in the Long Island Sound when Ronson was just a child.

Apparently Ronson, who was too young to remember and heard the story from his mother, wasn't entirely convinced the tale was true. "That sounded like one of my mum's crazy stories," Ronson told Britains Live Magazine.

Filed under: News, Video, New Music, New Releases

Cary Brothers

Two things about Cary Brothers: First of all, Cary Brothers is one person, not a family unit as one might suppose. Secondly, he is one of the last people we'd expect to cover to cover INXS.

But the guy pulls it off. With an able backing band behind him, Brothers delivers a fuzzed-out and guitarified cover while keeping the original's lovelorn, plaintive heart.

Filed under: News, Video, Exclusive

Red Bull

Assuming you're the sort of person who likes Woodhands, dreams of doing aerobics in space, or enjoys modern dance parties in Toronto parks you might be familiar with technicolor disco soul singer Maylee Todd.

Todd, whose "Hieroglyphics" single is the sort of song that'll make you want to buy rollerskates, is somewhat unknown outside of those Woodhands-park-dancing-aerobics circles, though, so Red Bull Soundstage has taken it upon themselves to educate everyone.

The folks behind the rollerball that is Red Bull Crashed Ice and the more Spinner-appropriate Red Bull Music Academy followed Todd around to meet her parents, peep in her closets and play around with her collection of instruments all with the goal of making her the latest star in their Sound & Vision documentary series.

Filed under: News, Video, Exclusive, New Music, New Releases

Ecid

Minneapolis rapper and producer Ecid has always done things his own way. Cultivating a strong DIY personality, Ecid has self-booked, self-released and self-made everything he does. With his new record, Werewolf Hologram, Ecid tried a new approach to take his game to the next level.

"So during the making of this record I quit drinking and made a goal to not have a drop until I got a manager or booking agent," Ecid tells Spinner. "Along with that I started doing yoga, which changed my life.

Filed under: News, R.I.P.

AP

TOKYO (AP) - Bass player and songwriter Donald "Duck" Dunn, a member of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame band Booker T. and the MGs and the Blues Brothers band, has died in Tokyo. He was 70.

Dunn was in Tokyo for a series of shows. News of his death was posted on the Facebook site of his friend and fellow musician Steve Cropper, who was on the same tour. Cropper said Dunn died in his sleep.

Filed under: News, News Today, Oh Boy!

The Image Gate, Getty Images

Gossip's Beth Ditto says Lady Gaga's music is great for 5-year-olds -- in a good way. [AZ Central]

Critics completely crap on Karmin. [Gawker]

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner reveals that he and bandmate used to dress up as Oasis in school, which probably means they wore hand-me-down Beatles wigs. [Pitchfork]

The Killers cover the Raspberries' "Go All the Way" for the "Dark Shadows" soundtrack, which is probably the most exciting thing that movie has to offer. [Some Kind of Awesome]

Stream Hot Water Music's excellent new album, Exister. [Spin]

Filed under: Video of the Day

Artist: Ben Howard
Video: "The Wolves"
Highlight: "'The Wolves' is a mashup of an epic little tour of Scotland, lots of highs and lows, whiskey and beautiful landscapes," Ben Howard tells Spinner.

Watch Ben Howard's "The Wolves" Video

Getty Images

Stevie Wonder's name was close to being tarnished as a result of a man claiming he was the singer's nephew, born out of an incestuous relationship Wonder allegedly had with his sister. However, the accusations are false and the man has since been arrested and charged with attempting to extort the "I Just Called to Say I Love You" creator.

TMZ reports Alpha Lorenzo Walker threatened Wonder, telling him he would go to the tabloids with the story unless he was paid a large sum -- he originally demanded $5 million then lowered the amount to $10,000 -- to keep quiet.

Filed under: News, R.I.P.

Dispatch

Joshua Webb, a musician who appeared on Ledisi's Grammy-nominated Pieces of Me album, was killed Wednesday in a car accident in Atlanta. He was 27.

According to St. Louis Today, Webb was traveling with his cousin to pick up Webb's new vehicle when their vehicle collided with a tractor trailer. Webb's cousin sustained a spinal cord injury and a fractured leg but Webb was pronounced dead at the scene. Webb was not wearing his seat belt.

"When u hear the piano part on Bravo that's Josh Webb R.I.P." Ledisi tweeted yesterday on hearing the news. "Mylove& prayers 2 The Webb Family."

Webb's credits include playing piano on the Ledisi song "Bravo" while playing organ on "Shine." Webb was also the younger brother of John Webb Jr., better known as producer Jon Jon Traxx, who worked with Usher, Mary J. Blige and Beyonce among others.

"He was branching out," Webb's cousin Broderick Young said. "He'd always played for different churches, but Jon Jon wanted him to branch out and do tours and work for other artists. This (Ledisi) was the first time and he got a Grammy nomination. That's was all he really wanted."

Webb is survived by his mother Cassandra, father John, brothers John Jr., Jordan and Jacob and sisters Kandra and Ca'Neidra. Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced.

Filed under: News, News Today, Oh Boy!

Bauer-Griffin

Mick Jagger has wrangled the worlds craziest backing band for his "SNL" appearance. The Rolling Stones singer will appear with Arcade Fire and Foo Fighters helping him out on Saturday night, because why book one band when you can book three? [Vulture]

Kurt Cobain gets Mickey Moused! And now we get to look forward to a whole generation of kids explain that they were introduced to Nirvana by Disney. [Stereogum]

Thom Yorke finally realized that he's an alien, and his music exists mostly in a different universe from our own. We still love it though. [NME]

Alanis Morissette has a new song! Alanis Morissette has a new song! Alanis Morissette has a new song! [Billboard]

Filed under: News, R.I.P.

Interscope

Celso Chavez, a guitarist in '90s alternative rock group Possum Dixon, died Wednesday night. He was 44.

According to the Los Angeles Times, former Possum Dixon member Rob Zabrecky confirmed the news after complications from a staph infection led to a bout of pneumonia for the late Chavez.

"He had been doing a lot of harm to his body for a really long time," Zabrecky told the publication. "It finally took its unfortunate toll."

Filed under: News, Exclusive, Movies

White Water Films

Despite playing such a convincing -- and beloved -- punk in the '90s cult classic film SLC Punk, actor and fledgling director Matthew Lillard insists that he was never into the scene himself.

"I liked punk rock music, but I didn't love it," Lillard tells Spinner. "It was just kind of always something in the background."

Lillard was a teenaged misfit who found some salvation through art, though, so when he read a book called Fat Kid Rules the World almost a decade ago, he really identified with its music-loving outsider characters.

"I had a crazy emotional response to it," says Lillard. "You know, it's the story of an outcast and I was that same kind of kid in high school, but instead of punk rock music, I found drama. It changed my life. So I thought that something about that story was timeless. I wanted to tell it."

Filed under: News

Getty Images (2)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Country Music Hall of Fame member Loretta Lynn is taking her life story to Broadway, and she has tapped film and TV actress Zooey Deschanel to play her on stage.

Lynn, 80, unveiled plans for a musical adaptation of "Coal Miner's Daughter" during a Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman Auditorium on Thursday night. Wearing one of her signature long sleeve, floor length dresses, the singer blew through four songs before bringing Deschanel onstage to sing the title tune.

Filed under: News, Exclusive

Getty | Getty

A lot of people might say that their mom is a rock star. But for a smaller portion of the population, their mom actually is a rock star. In honor of Mother's Day, and all of the figuratively and literally rocking moms out there, we'd like to salute five of our favourite musical matriarchs.

And, for those of you who don't think your mom is anything close to a rock star, we've also listed five of our least favourite rocker moms so that you can sit back and at least take solace in the fact that you weren't raised by Courtney Love.

Click on the gallery below to launch the feature.

Filed under: News, New Music, New Releases

Recess Records

San Pedro's Toys That Kill is full of youthful energy, spiked with just enough danger to do their name justice. Today, Spinner is happy to premiere their new song "V-Chip," a two-minute slice of punk-rock abandon.

"This song is about parents living vicariously through their kids," frontman Todd Congelliere tells Spinner. "The verses are sung from the offending parent's standpoint and the choruses is my oath to never do that. We'll see ... "

Filed under: News, New Music, New Releases

eOne

Everclear's new song "Be Careful What You Wish For" will have their fans rejoicing. It's the same familiar Everclear we all know and love, injected with a bit more edge and aggression. And more synthesizers. The song appears on Everclear's upcoming album Invisible Stars, their first LP in six years.

"Always expect the unexpected," frontman Art Alexakis tells Spinner. "Embrace the weird and the wonderful because you are probably going to get both. Don't be afraid, just be careful. Be careful what you ask for, it might come true."