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Life & Arts

Popular acts return to limelight

Music Notes 

Eli Jabbe

This week will feature the return of two popular names. 

Musiq is back with his fourth album, Luvanmusiq, which is his first album in several years. His new song "Buddy" has been playing frequently on radio stations and just like previous songs "Love" and "Halfcrazy" is another Musiq hit. 

Luvanmusiq is also his first album on Atlantic Records after recording his first three albums on Def Soul Records.

In addition, another name popular with fans returns. Modest Mouse is back with its latest album, We Were Dead Before the Ship even Sank. This is the first album for the group since their 2004 hit "Float On" catapulted them to mainstream success after years of having a strong underground following. The group has said recently that they are not going to purposely try to make a hit song like "Float On" on this album, instead letting the album take its course naturally.

In other news, the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame recently inducted several memorable artists: R.E.M., Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five.

The night featured performances such as R.E.M. doing a live performance of their hit "Man On The Moon" along with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, who sang the vocals, and Keith Richards playing guitar. Lead man Michael Stipe of R.E.M. acknowledged the others who became part of history: "The honor of being here is heightened four times over by the other artists here tonight."

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five made history that night as well, becoming the first hip-hop group inducted. The group was popular in the 80s with their song "The Message," whose socially conscious lyrics described the negative effect of Reaganomics and showed that hip-hop music did talk about important topics.

Another big name, Jay-Z, inducted the group, reciting the lines from "The Message" ("It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under") while the fans sang along, before making his speech. Van Halen was also inducted to the Hall Of Fame, but only Sammy Haggar was able to appear at the award ceremony.

Down here in Texas, South by Southwest is an event that is anticipated every year. The Austin festival features plenty of musicians performing and draws crowds from many cities. Fans got more than they bargained for on the second day when Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave performed. What seemed like a solo performance became a star-studded ensemble featuring many artists from other bands such as Guns N' Roses. 

It was the latest exciting moment in the history of the Austin festival that never seems to fail.

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