Obama works the music angle with blues singing

Apparently, we have a President that is a fan of singing the blues, as Obama was "coaxed" into doing a solo verse of "Sweet Home Chicago" alongside such famous music icons as Mick Jagger, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Jeff Beck.

Obama seemed to channel Clinton's musical talents; as Clinton had played the saxophone for the American people, and impressing quite a few of us, Obama lent his voice to the finale of a TV special on Black History Month, which revolved around blues at the White House.

Last month, when Obama sang a line from the 1971 Al Green classic "Let's Stay Together," the song's sales spiked through the roof at 490%. That's almost five times over!

Chris Brown arrest warrant?

Don't get too hyped up just yet. The rumor of an arrest warrant, out for (who else?) Chris Brown, is just that: a rumor. Miami officials have denied the reports that Brown has an outstanding warrant for his arrest, though an investigation is ongoing.

What is being investigated, you may be asking? Well, apparently he is being accused of stealing an iPhone, straight out of the hands of Christal Spann, a 24-year old woman. She says that he simply drove up with his windows rolled down, and snatched the iPhone she was using out of her fingers, commenting, "you ain't going to put that on no website."

Then, as is appropriate for such encounters, he promptly sped off.

Adele breaks a Whitney Houston charts record

Just when you thought Whitney Houston had taken considerable control of the charts with her "Greatest Hits" album posthumously nabbing the number two spot and seemingly rising, another popular female singer broke forward to challenge (and defeat) Houston in a another category in which she reigned supreme.

Keeping the top spot for the twenty-first week in a row, Adele's "21" album broke the record set by Whitney Houston for longest number-one album by a woman. Even Whitney Houston could not stop the juggernaut of music that is Adele, effectively allowing "21" to take number one for as many weeks as in the name of the album!

Now, Adele did not get this just for being the singer she has always been -- in fact, there is a pretty specific reason for why she held strong to number one. Her Grammy performance exposed her to so many people who would never have heard of her, or might have stopped listening. Their return to her music is evidenced in older albums of her own also taking strong rises in sales.

Breaking News: Chris Brown Still a Douche

"I'm so happy I could post a scathing tweet to ruin my image!"

Everyone remembers the big Chris Brown debacle that occurred a few years back, when he plead guilty to charges of assault against famous then-girlfriend Rhianna. Back in 2009, on the night before the Grammys of that year, Brown decided to do a number on Rhianna -- and he certainly left his mark. In fact, photos of Rhianna shortly after are, well, quite disturbing.

So, of course, Chris Brown has surely decided to cool off and get back in good graces with the fans that have made it possible for him to win a Grammy this year, right? Right?

Of course not.

In fact, Chris Brown has actually done something that I am sure made his PR cringe: he struck back. Following the Grammys, where he walked away successful and award in hand thanks to his F.A.M.E. album (more like L.A.M.E., considering it is by the King of Douche), Brown sent out a tweet:

"HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY. Now! That's the ultimate F--- OFF"

Oh yeah, Brown. Real smooth. This is definitely going to make people like you more.

Whitney Houston racks up sales after death

Naturally, the death of a popular musician or artist in contemporary times leads to a resurgence of their music in the industry, with album sales and (recently) singles downloads flying through the roof. This "rediscovery" of music, as many like to call it, almost always follows on the trail of the death -- a true schooling on the realities of the music industry.

Though a morbid enterprise, it has already sent Whitney Houston's music to high positions on charts worldwide just days after her death. Houston's album, Whitney: The Greatest Hits has soared to sells of over 101,000 copies by itself, this coming literally 3 days after the discovery of her submerged body in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub as she awaited the huge Grammy event the next day.

Of course, speculation has run rampant: most are already convinced that this was the work of drugs, as Houston was known to have frequent incidents of abuse with hard narcotics. Authorities have not confirmed or denied too much at this point; they have not released the cause of death.

Madonna does not approve of M.I.A.'s Super Bowl finger

Just about everybody who was watching the big game go down between the Giants and the Patriots saw the half-time show -- and, of course, it could not go off without someone doing something. Sure enough, M.I.A. flipped the birdie at the nation for what appears to be no reason.

I guess she wants to prove how edgy she really is... or something...

At any rate, Madonna seems to be miffed about it. Speaking of M.I.A., Madonna said to Ryan Seacrest during his radio show, "It's such a teenager, irrelevant thing to do ... what was the point? It was just out of place." Well, Madonna, let us take a look at a few things before we start throwing those stones in that big, expensive glass house of yours, alright?

deadmau5 wears Skrillex's Number at the Grammys!

deadmau5 at the Grammys

Oh yeah, deadmau5 really pulled off a good one at the Grammys, where his "rival" Skrillex nabbed some Grammys -- and where deadmau5 did not.

In a funny attempt to "get back" at Skrillex, and seemingly proving he knew just how much attention Skrillex would get over himself, deadmau5 wore a plain black shirt with Skrillex's personal number in bold white lettering, with the text below: "u mad bro?"

Oh, deadmau5, you crazy dude. Skrillex laughed it off on twitter with the following message:

Upcoming Artist of the Month #1: DarkGrey

iBlog brings you the Upcoming Artist of the Month, which will be awarded to a particularly new artist who has brought not only enjoyable music to his or her listeners, but has also shown considerable composure and a great attitude throughout their foray into the wondrous world of music.

Awardees will receive the space on iBlog's sidebar reserved for "Upcoming Artist of the Month," where their music, or samples of their music, can be heard, as well as various links to their sites and social media so that you can stay in contact with any you might really enjoy. We encourage you to get interested and involved with these artists; they love the support!

The first upcoming artist in this series is electronic DJ (and his own producer at the time of writing) DarkGrey. The tunes DarkGrey is putting out are getting pretty huge -- and with each piece of work, he gets better and better. One little remix he just released is insanely better than the original in my opinion, and that is really saying something, as the song he remixed was by the incredibly popular Steve Aoki; the song is Ladi Dadi.

Check it:

Steve Aoki - Ladi Dadi (DarkGrey Remix) by DarkGrey

Electronic Music, Now @ The Grammys

So the Grammys are, hands down, the biggest music event of the year. It has seen the likes of nearly all of the big hit artists, from usually upbeat U2 even down to a personal favorite, the more somber Tool. This is the award that musicians look towards in their careers, unless you were an electronic artist. The Grammys have never seen electronica take the stage; until now, that is.

The Grammy organization has nominated Skrillex for five different awards, and one of them is even in Best New Artist. There has never been a DJ nominated for that award, and so Skrillex will be a pioneer in the music industry as the frontrunner for popular electronic music. Also among the DJs will be deadmau5, David Guetta, and a few others.

With the rise of the likes of deadmau5, Skrillex, and other huge electronic artists all the way from house to dubstep, the long-underground side of the music industry could no longer be ignored. Electronic music has seeped into just about every genre over the last few years, making especially large appearances in pop and hip-hop. Black-Eye Peas, Lady Gaga -- you name it, the big names of late have been huge on electronic.

Whitney Houston Dead at 48

On February 11th, 2012, at 3:55 PM PST (6:55 PM EST), Whitney Houston was pronounced dead at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. The cause of death, according to publicist Kristen Foster, is still unknown at this time (12:06 AM PST, 3:06 AM EST). Her shocking end came about on the night before the Grammys, the biggest music event of the year to be hosted at that same hotel. She was 48 years old.[1]

Houston is probably best known as one of the best American singers in all of... well, all of history. Titled as "the most awarded female act of all time" by the Guinness World Records organization, she had become an icon for the R&B industry, much like her godmother Aretha Franklin. She will be missed by the majority of the music industry and music lovers alike.[2]

Her roots have spread down through inspired artists such as Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, and Christina Aguilera, among many, many others. Unfortunately, she is also infamous for using drugs with her then-husband Bobby Brown in the 90's, causing her to become frail and undependable at times.[3]

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston said of herself when she was interviewed in 2002 alongside Bobby Brown. It appears she knew how destructive her habits were, and that in the end it might come to her vs. herself -- whether or not she would be able to completely recover from those years of bad habits.[4]

As more news is revealed, this page will be updated.

[1] http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/stop-the-presses/pop-vocal-legend-whitney-houston-found-dead-034610653.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Houston
[3] http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/whitney-houston-iconic-pop-star-dies-48/story?id=15565260#.Tzd1YbS3bMc 
[4] http://www.npr.org/2012/02/11/146752819/music-superstar-whitney-houston-dies-ap-reports

Skrillex - Voltage (HD, Unreleased)

We've got a special treat for you, today, oh yeah.

Skrillex may be one of the single most famous dubstep artists ever -- if not THE most famous dubstep artist. AKA Sonny Moore, this guy has done more making electronic music than most have with their entire pop-culture music -- and even took MTV's EDM Artist of the Year, placing ahead of even deadmau5 (which is really saying something, considering).

His first true album as Skrillex is slated to come out this year, though the details are a bit foggy. We do know that it is called Voltage, as is the only single out from it so far. Though only caught in live performances, there have been studio, high quality versions of it on YouTube, and you can listen below:

Check it out, and tell us what you think in the comments! ;]

Metallica - Enter Sandman

Metallica.

Yeah, I'm sure you have heard of them before. If you have not, then prepare to get some schooling on what is considered one of the greatest metal bands (or hard rock/thrash metal, depending on your views) to ever have graced the music world.

Metallica, which styles itself a heavy metal band, was formed in 1981 (yeah, way back then!) when vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich connected through an ad in the local newspaper posted by the latter. The band started in Los Angeles, California, and has been growing ever since. They have included quite the line-up of band members, and have played alongside huge names in metal since.

It is hard to choose just one song from this band -- after all, they have come out with so many that are considered some of their best work. Though not my personal, all-time favorite of Metallica, I think that Enter Sandman is one of the best known songs by the group.

Check it out:

Noisia - Machine Gun

Oh yeah, let's get some Noisia in here (can you tell that I am excited? ;P)! Noisia is one of my personal favorites, producing some songs that I find not only enjoyable, but absolutely fascinating. Today's song, Machine Gun, is definitely one of those songs, and the very one that got me into Noisia in the first place!

Check out Machine Gun below:

Noisia, which, when capitalized, is "VISION" rotated 180°, is composed of the Dutch members Nik Roos, Thijs de Vlieger, and Martijn van Sonderen. Their style moves from genre to genre, mostly in the electronic category. In total, they own three record labels (Vision, Division, and Invisible).

Ed Sheeran - Drunk (Doctor P Remix)

Drunk is originally a song by the recently popular Ed Sheeran, a British singer-songwriter whose song The A Team sent him skyrocketing in success, even debuting at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Considering how popular he has become, his songs are sure to be remixed -- and this brings us to today's featured song.

Doctor P, a.k.a. Shaun Brockhurst, is another famous British musician, though his music is in the electronic genre (more specifically, dubstep). He takes the song Drunk and tweaks it into something more suited for those of the electronic persuasion, and the results are amazing.

Check it out below on the UKFDubstep channel:

Sublime - What I Got

What would this music blog be if I did not mention a band straight from my hometown of Long Beach, CA? In fact, this band is quite well known in Long Beach -- and for good reason. On more than one occasion, the band has mentioned their hometown in their music, much to the excitement of those in the city itself.

That band is the massively successful group Sublime (I bet you know that already though, right?). They are known for so many songs it would be hard to list even just the big ones, but of course I am going to give a try: Santeria, Date Rape, Caress Me Down, Smoke Two Joints, Badfish, and... well, jeez, it just keeps going!

The Sublime song that I am posting today is another one of their biggies: What I Got. It is by far my favorite Sublime song, probably because of how easy-going and realistic it is. For many people, this song represents how life is, and signing it has become something of a nostalgic past-time for my family. You can hear it below:

Modestep - Sunlight

Time to move on back to the electronic category again! Rock, hip-hop, and even what some may consider rap has made its way onto this blog, so there is quite the variety -- but we can always return to our much loved genre of electronic music, starting it off with Sunlight by Modestep.

Modestep is a London-based British band, whose songs are in the dubstep (and general electronic) range. Though they are not profusely popular throughout the globe, they have definitely made a name for themselves in the UK scene, and even the American dubstep scene.

Check out the music video below, from the official UKFDubstep channel on YouTube:

Chevelle - The Red

Here is a band that has been successfully releasing music for around sixteen years now: Chevelle. Yet, despite the band's age, many would still say they are in the game -- though, not quite hitting as hard as they used to. Their last two albums, while reaching a wide fanbase, did not make waves in the music world like their previous work had.

Speaking of their previous work, I think now is a good time to butt in with today's featured song, The Red. This song was a breakthrough single on their album Wonder What's Next, the album of which was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The Red is an excellent example of Chevelle's potential, as evidenced in the music video below: