Rock stars around the world are performing to tens of thousands of excited music fans as part of the Live Earth day to highlight climate change.

The nine concerts playing on July 7th include London, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Hamburg, Sydney and Tokyo.

Among the biggest music performers will be Madonna, The Police and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

This important occasion was organised by the former America Vice-President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to try to “heal the planet”.

Al Gore appeared at a smaller event at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, giving a speech - which was relayed to the concerts around the world - calling on the developed world to reduce carbon emissions by 90%.

Despite the green message, it is ironic that these music stars still chose to fly around the world on tour in their massive, polluting jets…

Oh well, at least the concerts are for a good cause and a great way for millions of fans to enjoy popular music. But more can be done to cut carbon emissions, as this is only the start. We really can change the world we live in.

Rap star Kanye West has teamed up with Daft Punk on his new single “Stronger”. Now while we don’t usually cover music singles here on eMagi we do cover animé. So why this song? Well it is heavily based on the animé classic Akira! Check it out below and see for yourself!

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I thought parts of it was well created, I don’t think anyone would get bored of the smearing headlight effects from the motorbikes as they were riding around late at night. There have been some animé influenced videos that artists have used in the past but I believe this is the most recent one. What do you think?

That’s right. The former front man to boy pop band ‘N Sync is strutting his boyish charms in this stylish nine-minute video with Hollywood’s hottest film actress, Ms Scarlett Johansson.

Normally, I don’t post music videos on eMagi but this one caught my attention. Not only is Scarlett one of the most beautiful women in the world (that shape, chest and voice) but according to rumours, Justin Timberlake’s third single from his new album – FutureSex/LoveSounds (silly title to be honest) – is based on his lifelong friend Trace Ayala and his relationship with Elisha Cuthbert. Yes, Elisha! Better known as Kim Bauer who likes to be chased around with cougars in a 24-hour day… Apparently ‘Kim’ cheated on Ayala with hockey player Sean Avery, which caused them to break off their engagement. The song is also rumoured to be about the relationship the two developed while on the set of the TV series 24.

Another rumour has claimed that the song is about the break-up of a family friend aside from Ayala, who was deeply hurt and affected.

Whatever the true origins to ‘What Goes Around… Comes Around’, the music video has been described as a short film with a duration exceeding nine minutes that even features credits similar to a film. Samuel Bayer – a renowned music video director – was the man responsible for the creating this ‘epic’ motion picture. The dialogue was even written by Alpha Dog writer and director Nick Cassavetes.

Sample the clip below and see how that lucky Timberlake is able to sweep Scarlett off her feet, until something horrible happens at the end…

Oh, here’s a detailed and amusing minute-by-minute account from Guardian Music. Great read after watching the YouTube video.

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American rock band The White Stripes treated twenty lucky Chelsea pensioners with a special live performance at the Royal College Hospital in West London.

The award-winning duo, made up of 31-year-old singer and guitarist Jack White and 32-year-old singer and drummer Meg White, performed five acoustic tracks. The unusual gig took place in the same State Apartments where Mozart once played!

Jack and Meg White opened their set with Apple Blossom and Hotel Yorba before playing You Belong To Me and St James Infirmary Blues.

You might think that the OAPs might not enjoy these modern-sounding rock ‘n’ roll, but surprisingly they did!

One Chelsea pensioner said: “I thought it was excellent. It’s not my scene really because it’s a different type of music altogether but I thought they were very, very good.”

Another admitted: “It was nice but I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to them.” Whoops… still at least they have the privilege to experience the wonderful music live.

No matter, the band will be return to more conventional gigging with a show in Hyde Park tomorrow (June 14th), for more fans approval.

Pensioners’ playlist - what The White Stripes played:

Apple Blossom – The White Stripes
Hotel Yorba – The White Stripes
I Can Tell That We Are Going To Be Friends – The White Stripes
St James Infirmiary Blues – Blues traditional
You Belong To Me – Jo Stafford
Bollweevil Song – Blues traditional

Forty years ago today (June 1st) marks a significant moment in the world of music with the release of the iconic Beatles album ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’. It is widely regarding as one of – if not the – greatest music album of modern times and here are some fascinating stories behind the Fab Four’s music.

• It was the band’s eighth album.
• The album was recorded at the famous Abbey Road studios over a 129-day period, at a cost of £25,000.
• Pink Floyd were working on ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ in the next studio at the same time.
• The idea of making the whole album as if Sgt Pepper was a real band was believed to be Paul McCartney’s.
• It was a completely self-contained album, which was meant to be played from start to finish.
• One critic described the album as “a decisive moment in the history of Western civilisation”.
• Within weeks of the album’s release, Jimi Hendrix started performing the title track in concert.
• It was the first rock album to win Grammy Awards for album of the year and best contemporary album.
• Rolling Stone magazine rated it number one in the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time back in 2003.
• Sir Peter Blake designed the front cover. It featured a colourful collage of life-sized cardboard models of famous people, including Marlon Brando and Karl Marx.
• Mae West originally refused to appear on the front cover, but changed her mind after the band wrote to her.
• The initial design was altered, deleting Hitler and Jesus from the image, before the album was released.
• It was rumoured that ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ was about the drug LSD. John Lennon always denied this, insisting a drawing done by his young son, Julian, that inspired it.
• The lyrics to Lennon’s ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite’ were adapted almost word for word from an old circus poster, which he bought at an antique shop in Kent.
• McCartney’s vocals were sped up for the song ‘When I’m 64’ to give it a unique sound.

I’m surprised in how four decades has passed by since the initial release of this fantastic album. Nearly all the songs became number one hits in the music charts and it still sounds as good as back in the 60s! So raise a glass to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr for their efforts in creating a timeless music collection.

I haven’t been the model example of writing in emagi as I’ve not posted anything that isn’t depressing since mid February, so as a bit of entertainment I though I’d show you some musical treats. Anyway it is worth pointing out that many of my favourites come from various parts of Europe, in the resent past I’ve developed a taste for German language music so I think I’ll start with that.

Favourite Artists/bands> Juli, Silbermond, Wir Sind Helden, Revolverheld, Christina Stürmer.

Juli> At the moment I’ve only been able to get hold of their second album “Ein Neuer Tag” but this has given me a lot of good music to ponder over. My Favourite songs on this album are the title song “Ein Neuer Tag” and the first song “Dieses Leben”. If you wanted to describe Juli you’d call them maybe a German version of those Frozen monkeys, Only in popularity though as Juli are much better. Unfortunatly I’ve not been able to find a torrent of their First Album “Es Ist Juli”.

Silbermond> these Guys are indeed somewhat competing for the same sort of market as Juli are, Indeed they are also very good and much better than the freeze dried monkeys. I’ve got their album “Laut Gedacht” and indeed it is good music, my favourites are “meer Sein” and “Nein Danke”. But can’t kind music video’s of them so here’s “Unendlich” from the same album.

Wir Sind Helden> I Believe that their the longest in the public eye of the german bands I’ve come to like as I hear there song “guten Tag” was in the German Charts in 2002, With the First album “Die Reklamtion” being released in 2003. It is this album which has gotten my attention as it’s the first I found on the net… My favourite songs are “Guten Tag” and “Ist Das so”.

RevolverHeld> These Guys have in their short history had some terrible luck with the naming of their band, It was originally called “Manga”, Not hard to guess what their vices are, then in 2004 they renamed to “Tsunamikiller” and then for obvious reasons they renamed themselves “revolverheld” in 2005. This is when they got their breakthrough and indeed it’s where I begin as there is only one album for now, The obviously named “Revolverheld”… My favourite songs on this album are “Generation Rock” and “Arme Hoch”

Christina Stürmer> Realistically this is not German as it’s actually Austrian but that’s not too much difference so… Well anyway She’s the most popular artist in Austria at the moment and Is in the German and Swiss charts as well, She’s the most successful Austrian Musicians in a long time according to a translation of the German Wikipedia entry. The Band incidentally is named after her so don’t be confused. I’ve got her albums “Schwarz Weiss” and “lebe Lauter”, from Schwarz weiss my favourites are the title song “Schwarz weiss” and that albums version of “Ich lebe”. In “lebe Lauter” my favourites are “Augenblick am Tag” and “Um bei Dir Zu Sein”.

That completes the German& Austrian of my collection, The others come some time in the future. Guten Nacht!

zreo Soundscapes have made an orchestral version of the classical songs from the Legend of Zelda videogame. Oh did I mention that its free as well? For fans of the legendary compositions by Koji Kondo then be sure to check it out!

Download the album here at www.zreomusic.com.

Sheffield rock band Arctic Monkeys won two Brit Awards for Best British Group and Best British Album in last night’s music ceremony.

Unfortunately the band wasn’t on hand to receive the awards and instead sent acceptance videos dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz and The Village People.

The Killers also won two awards including Best International Group and Best International Album.

Singer-songwriter James Morrison was awarded Best British Male, with soul star Amy Winehome the Best British Female.

Surprisingly, this year’s Brit Awards passed off largely without incident (unlike the previous years), although the sound was dropped on several occasions to obscure swearing…

The list of winners in this year’s Brit Awards:

British Male Solo Artist
James Morrison

British Female Solo Artist
Amy Winehouse

British Album
Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not


British Group
Arctic Monkeys


British Breakthrough Act
The Fratellis

International Breakthrough Act
Orson

British Live Act
Muse

British Single
Take That – Patience


International Male Solo Artist
Justin Timberlake

International Female Solo Artist
Nelly Furtado

International Group
The Killers

International Album
The Killers – Sam’s Town

Outstanding Contribution to Music
Oasis

The 1997 Formula One World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve, has announced he will release his debut album, Private Paradise, on February 19th in Montreal.

The album features 13 tracks. Nine of these are sung in English and the other four in French. The CART and F1 driver even wrote six of the tracks himself.

Villeneuve’s new album will be available on the Internet and possibly via Apple’s iTunes. When asked about it, the French-Canadian said: “I’ve always loved music. My grandfather was a piano tutor, my father played piano and trumpet and my sister is a musician as well. So music has always been in the family. I’ve been writing songs for many years, I’ve just never taken it to the next step until now. As soon as last season finished in November, when it wasn’t yet announced that I was staying with the team, I had nothing else to do, so I decided to go into the studio, get a few people together and see what it would sound like fully produced.

“I write my own music and for half the album I wrote the lyrics to the music, the other half is either songs from friends or songs that I liked. I think it’s important to have different material, not only stuff you write yourself, just to get a different influence. There are some great songs out there that need to be produced, some real hidden gems, so I wanted to do them and see how they would sound as well.

“Mainly I’m playing acoustic guitar. There are a few duets on the album. One is with my sister Melanie. Just after my father died, she had written a song about it that she had never managed to finish. So a few years ago she asked me to finish it, and when it was done I decided it would be great to record it, so we did it as a duet. Also, on another song, I got my little sister Jessica to sing a little bit with me, which was a lot of fun. It was nice to get the family involved.

“I have no idea if it can be a success or not. When I started, it wasn’t for that reason, it was purely to see how the music would sound if it was fully produced. I had been working on songs for a long time, and sometimes you can be proud of what you write, but you have no idea if it’s going to sound any good or not. It’s only your friends that hear it, and of course they’re going to say it’s great because they’re your friends and the same thing with the family. So it was important to me to see what could be done with them and we’re quite happy with the results, so it will get out there! There will be high criticism, of course, because I’m a race car driver, and anytime you do something that’s not your job it pisses people off, because why should you be doing it, and not someone else who is not doing anything with their life yet. So the criticism will be high, because it will be perceived that the only reason I did it is because I’m a race car driver and I can afford it.”

But Villeneuve says that music will remain a hobby as long as he is still racing cars (he will take part in his first ever endurance race at Le Mans driving for Peugeot this year). It will be interesting how successful this album will become when it hits the album charts in Canada this month.

More on Villenueve can be seen on his MySpace website.

Lost In Translation star Scarlett Johansson has rubbished reports she acted like a diva on the set of Justin Timberlake’s new music video.

The Hollywood actress teamed up with the successful pop star in his new music video What Goes Around… Comes Around, but the event became awkward by the speculation that the actress behaved like a diva throughout.

Johansson was said to have thrown a strop when she wasn’t allowed to smoke on set, and allegedly said, “How come we have fire dancers, but I can’t smoke?” Eating in front of her was also reportedly banned, with her bodyguard telling crew members to go somewhere else if they were going to eat.

However, Johansson’s publicist Marcel Pariseau has blasted the claims, as reported in The New York Daily News. Pariseau said: “Scarlett is always respectful of other people and never made this statement. Also, Scarlett doesn’t have a bodyguard.”