Scarlett Johansson: Firmly under major label control

Last week, a pair of tunes from Scarlett Johansson's debut, "Anywhere I Lay My Head," found their way onto the Web. With the acclaimed actress tackling the songs of Tom Waits, singing with David Bowie, and working with a host of underground rock luminaries (TV On the Radio's Dave Sitek and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, among others), there was, understandably, quite a bit of interest in the songs.

But within hours of the title track and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" leaking, the songs were removed from any blog that hosted them. Yet with the May 20 release of her album, due on Warner Bros.-owned label Atco/Rhino, it seemed like high time to get the music out to the public. The sudden Web removal of the tracks seemed a bit puzzling. Warner Bros., after all, was the first major label to strike a licensing agreement with streaming site Imeem, and there is a seeming newfound attitude among labels to get music into the hands of fans as quickly as possible (see Gnarls Barkley, the Raconteurs).

When contacted, a label rep for Johansson did not comment on why the two tracks were asked to be taken down, but did note that a new and different Johansson song would be made available the following week. And voila, it has, as "Falling Down" featuring David Bowie has landed as an exclusive on AOL's Spinner site. Consider it proof that even in 2008, the Web can't totally derail a major label marketing campaign.

But the Web can certainly make one even more frustrating for all parties. Check the VH1 site for Madonna's "Hard Candy," which at one point offered brief snippets of every song on the album. Perhaps everyone soon came to their senses and realized that a full track or two would be a better tactic. I'm betting more fans than not are comfortable making their purchase judgments based on 30-second clips available on iTunes or Amazon, so why let them make that decision two weeks before the April 29 release?

As for Scarlett's "Falling Down," expect a more link-friendly version of the song to be available in the next day or two. It's an icier first single than expected, which Johansson offering a surprisingly still delivery around a deliberately slow swirl of spacey effects and heavily layered instrumentation.

news source : http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/

Just How Bad Is The Scarlett Johansson CD? Hear For Yourself

Actresses are getting record deals while real musicians can't get arrested by the major labels. And they want to blame their drop in sales on downloaders. The following is the case in point. We received the following PR today with a link to a listening party: Scarlett Johansson will release her debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, on Atco Records, an imprint of Warner

Music Group's Rhino Entertainment, on May 20. The inspired album features 10 Tom Waits songs and includes one original track. Collaborating with TV on the Radio producer David Sitek, Johansson is also joined by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zimmer, Sean Antanaitis from Celebration, as well as others. You can preview the following six songs to see if you think

Scarlett can sing or if she's another Paris Lohan (or worse!): 1. Fawn 2. Town with No Cheer 3. Falling Down 4. Anywhere I Lay My Head 5. Fannin Street 6. Song for Jo. Gave it a listen but all I heard was organ music for three and half minutes followed by her talking with a bunch of echo on her voice (which was really buried in the mix). Two minutes of that and couldn't take any more. Didn't sound inspired at all, actually sounded pretty mundane but if you have more patience.

news source : http://www.antimusic.com/

Off with her sister’s head

By Lisa Kennedy
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, , DENVER, COLORADO : The world awaits the resourceful art house or Turner Classic Movies programmer who strings together films that tell the story of British history through its royals. There would be Mrs Brown, with Judi Dench as Victoria. There would also be Derek Jarman’s Edward II, a movie that helped usher in the “new queer cinema” of the early 1990s; Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V; perhaps even Al Pacino’s docu-homage to Shakespeare and Richard III, Looking for Richard. Certainly, The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson as the sisters Boleyn, would fit into this monarchy marathon.

This story of sibling rivalry and sisterly connection in the court of Henry VIII would precede Elizabeth and its less golden sequel. Directed by British television director Justin Chadwick, this is a less gripping foray into the territory of Showtime’s highfalutin historical soap “The Tudors.” Based on Philippa Gregory’s historical novel, the movie trades on something of a casting switcheroo. Portman, who manages a girlish vulnerability even in an action flick like V for Vendetta, is the calculating, bold Anne. The chillier Johansson has yet to find the perfect material. Here she strikes the pose that brought her to the fore in the first place. As in Girl With a Pearl Earring, her Mary is an intelligent innocent navigating a new world.

David Morrissey is impressively disagreeable as the Duke of Norfolk, the Boleyns’ uncle and chief puppetmaster of the family’s fortunes and misfortunes. It is he and father Thomas Boleyn (Mark Fylance) who use the Boleyn children (even son George) as political currency. The “other” of the title fits each sister depending on her relation to Henry. Initially, it refers to the darker sister, as when Anne celebrates the younger’s nuptials. “I am eclipsed,” she says, seeing Mary aglow and dressed to wed for love (Benedict Cumberbatch as luckless William Carey).

Other times it is Mary. Tossed on his rear in a hunting foray that puts Anne in a dark light, Henry awakens to the light-haired Mary ministering to him. Once he forces the quieter, younger sister to court from countryside, he finds soul mate and friend. His passion is mercurial. When Anne returns from France, charged with keeping him interested in Mary, who convalesces during a pregnancy, her boldness has been refined in the French court.

She has become his match, and she torments him with that fact till he divorces his wife and changes the course of England and world religion. Peter Morgan adapted Gregory’s novel. And it’s easy to recognize why the writer of The Queen was drawn to these sisters, their ambitious family machinations and the complex character of Henry.

Unfortunately, that nuance doesn’t find its way onscreen. Neither Johansson nor Portman convince. Instead of providing a quality setting for their talents, director Chadwick uncovers their limitations. It is not until the bitter end that they appear at all connected to each other. Glimpses of depth come from Eric Bana as Henry and Kristin Scott Thomas as the Lady Elizabeth Boleyn.

Not as petulant or supercharged as Jonathan Rhys Meyer’s Tudor on the Showtime series, Bana still captures the mood of a man of appetites but also intellect. One of the finest moments comes from neither Boleyn girl but from Ana Torrent as Queen Katherine of Aragon. She’s no ingenue. She’s no patsy either. When she warns Henry that he’s fallen under Anne’s spell, her understanding of her husband’s weaknesses, but also his strengths, is real and regal.

Ambition, erotic energy and world history are more than enough reason to return to the monarchs of yore, it seems. Still, one wonders if filmmakers have it right: Will we forever be enamored with Britain’s royal pains?

news source : http://www.taipeitimes.com/