Ones to Watch: Matthew Koma

Matthew Koma is a talented singer/songwriter from New York who's about to make a BIG splash here in America and around the world.  Having already hit the mainstream, writing the hook for Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso's SMASH single, "Calling (Lose My Mind)" featuring OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder,  Koma's ready for his closeup.  His debut four-track EP, Parachute is set for release this Tuesday, May 29th via Cherrytree/Darkchild/Interscope Records.  Listen to snippets from the EP BELOW.

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[Hot Video Alert] Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa - Payphone

And just when I thought Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine couldn't get any hotter, he goes ahead and gets all sweaty and sooty in his new music video. In the Samuel Bayer (Justin Timberlake, Green Day)-directed video for Maroon 5's latest single, "Payphone," released last Thursday, Levine plays a lowly bank worker in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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Maroon 5 Breaks Digital Sales Record for a Group, Besting Black Eyed Peas; New Album Out June 26th

Released on iTunes April 17th (June 18th in the UK) "Payphone" is the new Wiz Khalifa-assisted Maroon 5 single.  The LA-based fivesome debuted the song live on the hit NBC reality series The Voice prior to the single release the next day.  Following the song's release, "Payphone" debuted at #1 on the Digital Songs chart.  With nearly 500,000 downloads, "Payphone" broke the Black Eyed Peas previous record for digital sales by a group.  In addition to landing a #1 on Billboard's Digital Songs Chart, the single also managed a #3 debut on the Hot 100 chart. That's INSANE!

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Always on the Sunny Side...(in the U.S. anyway)

So I was getting ready for work this morning and I heard that Natasha Bedingfield was going to be performing. I knew I didn't have time to wait around so I set my TIVO to record it. I got home this evening and watched it.

When Matt Lauer introduced Ms. Bedingfield, he said that her album, POCKET FULL OF SUNSHINE would be released soon. I did a double take. Pocket full of what? Really Natasha? Why? When the album was released at the end of April in the UK, it was called NB (obviously her initials). What's with the change? And why such a cheesy title? Everything has to change for the U.S. doesn't it? How ridiculous. Granted, I Wanna Have Your Babies isn't a genius name for a first single (that was her first UK single from her latest album), and a different single might be a wiser choice for the U.S. radio market, did her label really have to rename the whole album? The single wound up peaking at number 7 on the UK charts. Not halfway bad. Second single, a ballad called Soulmate also peaked at number 7 on the UK charts. Her duet with Adam Levine from Maroon 5, Say It Again was her third UK single.

In the U.S. a new song was released as the first single. Love Like This featuring label mate--reggae teen sensation Sean Kingston. I definitely prefer the song to I Wanna Have Your Babies and it's slowly growing on me. Forthcoming remixes by Johnny Vicious should seal the deal for me (Johnny Vicious tore it up on his remixes of her number 1 single in the U.S., Unwritten).

Now back to the fact that Natasha is calling her album Pocket Full Of Sunshine for it's U.S. market debut. I just don't get it. According to Wikipedia.com which we all know isn't really reliable...the U.S. version will feature two new tracks...Love Like This and a title track, Pocket Full Of Sunshine. I guess this means new album art will be forthcoming as well. All enough for me to buy the U.S. version, despite owning the UK version already (I purchased both the U.S. and UK versions of her debut album). Stupid record label politics. Like they did for the U.S. release of 28 Days Later (re-shot the ending because the original was deemed to macabre by U.S. audiences--that was the rumour anyway), the U.S. version of Bedingfield's new album has a happy new title and (at least) two new songs. *sigh.