Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 57

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE Thursda Januar 15, 2009 WWW.POST-GAZETTE.COM w-15 Top Albums 1. Taylor Swift 2. Nickelback 3. Kanye West and 4. Beyonce Am Sasha 5.

soundtrack 6. Britney Spears 7. Keyshia Cole Different 8. Jamie Foxx 9. Various artists 10.

Akon Source: Billboard thechart localscene RA The balloting is now open for the third annual Pittsburgh Hip-Hop Awards, which take place at the Pittsburgh Hilton on Feb. 8. You can vote in 35 different categories, including male artist, hip-hop band, community activist, comedian and athlete. Absent from the ballot is the biggest rap star, Wiz Khalifa who won in two categories last year, along with his label Rostrum Records and its founder Benjy Grinberg and Rostrum are not going to play any part in the hip-hop awards this Grinberg says. we left Wiz and I both looked at each other and promised that we come back this year.

We think that, in theory, the PHHA could be a great event. In reality, mismanaged and Organizer Dwayne Muhammad says Wiz was pulled from the nominee list because he wants to give him a special Put On For My award, along with Pittsburgh Slim and 4 Play of Pretty Ricky. not a fair Muhammad says, comparing national artists to local To extend that comparison, the Pittsburgh Hip-Hop Awards takes place the same night as the Grammy Awards in L.A. why I did Muhammad says. is Grammys.

The place is already half sold out. What better date to do Muhammad says there will be around 10 performances at the show, one of which will be from the winner of a Pittsburgh artist showcase being held Sunday night at Dreams Nightclub in the Strip (former Moto, across from Pri- Doors open at 9 p.m. and the showcase will begin an hour or two later. Admission to the showcase is $10. The voting for the Hip-Hop Awards runs until Feb.

7 at noon at www.pitts- burghhiphopawards.com. Tickets for the event are $20 in advance; $30 day of show; $100 VIP; $900 tape of 10. GiR TAlk: DooR A story this week in the Daily Colle- gian at Penn State University noted that due to the incident at the Dec. 11 Girl Talk concert, a wristband policy now will be required to monitor capacity in the HUB-Robeson Center. During the event, in which too many people showed up without tickets, students waiting in line one of the doors to Alumni Hall, toppled a newspaper rack and damaged one of the And not to mention a laptop probably showered with beer.

So where is leading party animal now? in Bloomington, and Columbus, Ohio, this weekend, after which fly around the world for two weeks in New Zealand and Australia before returning to the States for a February-March tour of the South, climaxing at the Langerado Music Festival in Miami on March 8. Those stateside dates are with Pittsburgh hip-hop pranksters Grand Buffet. A CA A Pittsburgh band Call To Attraction issues its debut CD, Like with a release party Saturday night at the Rex on the South Side. The band Ryan Wood, Tom Dailey, Joe Mahoney and Dylan Wood plays in a high-energy pop-punk style the members say is influenced by The Who, Yellowcard and Sum 41, among others. The young band already has toured eight states and shared stages with such national acts as Valencia, Mest, The Unseen, and Rookie of the Year.

An even bigger summer 2009 tour is in the works. The CD release show starts at 6:30 p.m. and also features Backseat Loves- tory, For The Record, Your Life and Mine, and Chances are High. Admission is $8. bR AR Asked by the critic at the Hartford Courant who he would like to share a stage with, Bear Hands singer-guitarist Dylan Rau said Wayne and Bob Dylan and Daft Actually, the Connecticut band, now working out of Brooklyn, might be more suited to a bill with Vampire Weekend, given its perky indie-pop sound.

Bear Hands plays the Brillobox Friday with Pomegranates a Cincinnati band that draws comparisons to early Modest Mouse, and our own guitar heroes Life in Bed It starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $6 or $7. TenD One of the most intimate shows this weekend is likely to be Oregon indie-folk artist David Karsten Daniels playing his tender and very quirky songs at Garfield Artworks at Friday at 8 p.m. joined by The Lampshades, Dean Cercone, Jenn Gooch and Rock Rifle. all ages.

$7. 20 AR Activist Vincent Eirene presents the 20th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Benefit Show at in Bloomfield Monday with performances by Moonlight Motel, Phat Man Dee, UkuLizzy, Bob Ziller, Evan Knauer Duane Jones, Lucid Music, Deleted Scenes and Bobby Porter Proceeds benefit the Duncan Porter Homeless Shelter on the North Side and continued relief for displaced Katrina victims. It begins at 8 p.m. Admission is $10 for the rich; $5 for the not-so-rich.

Scott Mervis Send local music news to Fleet Foxes a better choice for On Saturday, I flipped on NBC around midnight to see Taylor Swift doing a rather bland performance on Night and wondered, is Taylor Swift even on Night Yeah, the biggest-selling artist of 2008, but there enough late- night and awards shows for her to play? be a little more left-of-the-dial? Part of early reputation was built on throwing something out there that might shock the audience, or at least keep them awake. If you were around in the late recall the hitting the stage like surf-rock aliens on Patti Smith torching the place with and Talking Heads resembling preppy robots on That was cutting-edge stuff being exposed to an audience probably more accustomed to Paul Simon and the Rolling Stones. Nowadays, still a thriving underground, but it seems like just rounds up the biggest mainstream stars. This Saturday, though, we get something different when the show gives the stage to Fleet Foxes, a bearded Seattle band from Sup Pop that frequented Top 10 lists this year with a debut record that brings CSNY-style harmonies into a new musical context. Mom and dad and their teenage kids will probably be digging this one.

At a time when the music industry really needs more new bands breaking out and replacing the old guard, it would be nice to see go more in this direction and offset the superstars with contenders from indie-rock and indie hip-hop scenes. Scott Mervis, Guitarist reclaims Guiness world record Local musician Andy Hoke broke the Guinness World Record for continuous guitar playing once again. Hoke originally broke the record in February 2007 in a 48-hour marathon that took place at the Thunderbird Cafe in Lawrenceville. Some of the rules included: no repeat songs in a four-hour period, songs more than two minutes long, and a five-minute break every hour. In June, another musician from India set a new record of 53 hours.

Hoke, not one to back away from a challenge, set out to reclaim his title. figured I did it once and really felt great afterward, so I went full tilt this he said His new record (also set at the Thunderbird in late October) is 60 hours. During that time, he played more than 1,000 songs, played his instrument behind his head, right-handed, left-handed and even blindfolded. He also managed to play a full gig with his band The Smick Brothers. You can catch video highlights of both attempts at www.andyhoke.com.

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