Pop Music News Weekly, February 21, 2011: Brit Awards, Lady GaGa Song Preview, New Radiohead, and More

Welcome once again to Pop Music News, a weekly wrap up of some of the more noteworthy news items from the world of popular music. In this week's issue: The 30^th Annual Brit Awards; a new Radiohead album surprise; a preview of five new Lady GaGa songs; and Adele "21" propels her to match 1964 Beatles feat.

The Brit Awards

The Brit Awards are the British equivalent of the Grammys and their 30^th Annual Awards Ceremony took place on Tuesday, February 15^th in London. The show featured performances by Adele, Take That, Cee Lo Green, Rihanna, Arcade Fire and more.

In addition to awards given to British recording artists, special categories of awards were also given to international artists as well. Some of the evenings winners included Cee Lo Green (International Male Solo Artist), Rihanna (International Female Solo Artist), Justin Bieber (International Breakthrough Act), and Arcade Fire (International Group and Album). For a full list of winners and a lot more information about the show, see the Brit Awards website below.

Radiohead's New "The King of Limbs" Digitally Released

Last Monday, English alternative rock band Radiohead announced that they would be releasing a new album, "The King of Limbs", which was made available to download a mere 4 days later on Friday morning. A message on the band's website Friday read:

"It's Friday... It's almost the weekend...It's a full moon....

You can download 'The King of Limbs' now if you so wish!

Thank you good people for waiting ... Have a great weekend wherever you are...."

This short (less than forty minutes long in its entirety) album is a welcome surprise for fans, who've been anxiously awaiting new material from the band since their last effort, "In Rainbows" in 2007. Read Rolling Stone's Will Hermes' review of the album here.

Preview Songs from GaGa's 'Born This Way' CD

On Friday, Rolling Stone Magazine reported that it had gotten advanced previews of four brand new songs off of Lady GaGa's forthcoming album, "Born This Way", before a recent show in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The magazine's Matthew Perpetua says that even though they were told the songs were not yet in the final stages of production, they sounded like "polished, finished recordings." To read the full review of the four songs: "Judas", "Edge of Glory", "ScheiBe" and "Hair", and a fifth that was performed at the show called "You and I", check out the piece here.

Adele's "21" to drop on Tuesday as singer matches Beatles feat

The much awaited sophomore effort by British sensation Adele will be available for purchase this Tuesday, February 21^st. Earlier this week, Adele made headlines in the UK when she became the "first living artist since the Beatles in 1964 to have two titles simultaneously in the top five in both the U.K. singles and album charts."

The new album, which is already available in the U.K., made the #1 spot for the fourth straight week while her first effort, "19" charted at #4. Two singles off of the new album, "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" came in at #'s 4 and 1 respectively. This matches the Beatles' incredible feat in 1964 when their albums "With the Beatles" (#!) and "Please, Please Me" (#2) and singles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (#2) and "She Loves You" (#5) were each in the top five in their categories.

To read more about the release of Adele's "21", click here.

For past issues of Pop Music News, see:

February 7^th Edition

February 14^th Edition

Web Resources:
The 30^th Annual Brit Awards

http://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/2011

Sources:

Hermes, Will. "Radioheads 'The King of Limbs': A Track by Track Breakdown." Rolling Stone 18 Feb 2011: n. pag. Web. 21 Feb 2011.

Perpetua,Matthew. "Preview Six Songs from Lady GaGa's 'Born This Way'." Rolling Stone 18 Feb 2011: n. pag. Web. 21 Feb 2011. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/preview-six-songs-from-lady-gagas-born-this-way-20110218.

Additional Sources:

http://www.billboard.com/#/news/adele-ties-beatles-record-on-u-k-charts-1005043412.story

http://www.examiner.com/music-in-denver/album-review-radiohead-the-king-of-limbs-review

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2010/feb/17/brit-awards-2010-winners?intcmp=239

http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-week-in-music-bieber-fever-grammys-aftermath-radioheads-new-album-and-more-20110218