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| 4/19/04 |
Rolling Stone Review: BT
The Technology EP Electronic music superstar Brian "BT" Transeau's remixes for Madonna and Sarah McLachlan and scores for films like Monster have proven his mainstream multimedia capability, but his most indelible mark has come from his solo output. The Technology EP collects remixes of three tracks from the Emotional Technology album, and though it fails to reach the genre-smashing heights of its parent, its brevity, not quality, is the culprit. JC Chasez's vocals on the epic "Force of Gravity" are filtered into dizzying trance and ass-shaking breakbeat versions by Tiesto and Dylan Rhymes, with the Rose McGowan-fronted "Superfabulous" and the meditative Attention Deficit remix of "The Great Escape" also primed for dance floors. The disc's greatest appeal will be to bedroom DJs; it also includes the individual audio parts to all three songs, so the buyer can generate his or her own emotional technology by creating unique remixes of each song.
Brisbane misses out on tours ...Former 'N Sync singer Timberlake became the latest major international recording artist to omit Brisbane from his tour itinerary when his tour was announced yesterday. He will play at Melbourne Festival Hall on June 11 and Sydney's Hordern Pavilion on June 16. The 5500-capacity shows are at the opposite end of the scale to Williams's huge outdoor events in December. Timberlake requested smaller venues to deliver a show focusing on music rather than special effects, a spokesman for promoter Frontier Touring said. But with Timberlake available for a short tour, that means other capital cities miss out. ...Various reasons are put forward why performers don't tour outside Sydney and Melbourne, but the real reason is usually the bottom line. Outside performance fees, the major cost of a tour is moving equipment around the country.
Australian tour will model club shows THE world's biggest male artist, Justin Timberlake, is to get up close and personal with Australian fans when he tours here for the first time in June. Instead of playing bigger-sized arenas, Timberlake has demanded smaller venues - the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney - and will model the performance on the impromptu club shows he has played in London and Los Angeles. "That's kinda the trip I'm on right now. I've done so many shows, I toured for nine months all over the world and the club shows are the ones I enjoyed the most," he said...
'Blowin' Me Up' number 13 on UK charts From Billboard: ...Also new in the U.K top 20 were "Ride Wit U" by Joe featuring G Unit (Black Magic) at No. 12, "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)" (Jive) by 'N Sync's JC Chasez at No. 13, Janet Jackson's "Just a Little While" (Virgin America) at No. 15 and "Come Clean" by Hilary Duff (Festival) at No. 18... And from Radio 1: ...Joe featuring G Unit came in at No.12 with 'Ride Wit U'. Hot on their heels at 13 - and proving there's little room for more than one former *NSYNC-er in the Top 10 - is JC Chasez with 'Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)'...
On his own When JC Chasez recorded his racy solo debut, the term "wardrobe malfunction" hadn't been coined. But when fellow 'NSYNC singer Justin Timberlake infamously ripped off one layer too many of Janet Jackson's costume in front of Super Bowl viewers, Chasez was one of the first to feel the backlash. Scheduled to launch "Schizophrenic" with a halftime performance at the Pro Bowl, he was first asked by the NFL to perform a cleaned-up version of an older tune, "Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love)," and then the league announced that "it would be in our best interest not to have him perform" because of his suggestive lyrics. Chasez released his own statement, saying in part that "the NFL's shallow effort to portray my music as sexually indecent brings to mind another era when innocent artists were smeared with a broad brush by insecure but powerful people," and he declined the league's compromise of allowing him to sing the National Anthem.
But that doesn't mean the episode doesn't bother him. "It's sad when every country in the world is laughing at us," Chasez said. While Americans tend to be uptight about sexuality, "we don't mind watching somebody get their head blown off.... It's messed up." The lyrics on "Schizophrenic" (Chasez co-wrote all but one track) are decidedly more mature than 'NSYNC fare - songs include "Some Girls (Dance With Women)," "All Day Long I Dream About Sex," "One Night Stand" and the Prince paean "100 Ways." Had "Schizophrenic" hit stores a few weeks earlier, "it would have been a different world," he said, sounding resigned. "You just gotta play the hand you're dealt." There's certainly no confusing Timberlake's urban-flavored solo debut, "Justified," with Chasez's eclectic mix of electronica, '80s synth-pop, funk and reggae. "He was creating an image. I wanted to just make great songs," he said. Chasez hadn't even planned to record an album - he wanted to relax while 'NSYNC was between albums. Then he started hanging out with producer Dallas Austin, who was working on a soundtrack and talked Chasez into writing "Blowin' Me Up" for it. "I did the 'Drumline' song kind of for fun ... originally I wasn't even going to sing it," he said. Austin talked him into it; "next thing you know, they make it a single," Chasez said. Austin also talked him into working on a full album. "He was like, you have all this music inside of you - why wouldn't you want to share it?" Chasez said he realized he was ready to get back to work and took the project song by song, the tracks' sound reflecting his mood on any given day. "I wanted it to be natural... I like spontaneity," he said. "That's one of the best things about music - it captures a moment." He also worked with a heady lineup of producers and collaborators, including Austin, techno duo Basement Jaxx , Robb Boldt (Paula Abdul) and Rockwilder (Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes), but regards it as no big deal. "I just worked with my friends." He said the relaxed relationships show through on the final tracks: "You can feel a good energy with this record." Chasez is currently warming up with a club tour, one that's more conversational and intimate - and far lower-tech - than 'NSYNC's live extravaganzas. "This is a different kind of album," he explained. Then he'll hit the road in Europe with another pal: Britney Spears, a fellow Mouseketeer who got her big break opening for 'NSYNC. The role reversal doesn't bother Chasez a bit - it's a great opportunity, especially in countries where 'NSYNC isn't the household name it is at home. "I don't worry about what everybody thinks," he said. He treats his solo career as an entirely new project. "You gotta start from the bottom up," he said. "You have to learn."
In what is undoubtedly the most anticipated tour announcement of 2004, Australian fans will be thrilled to hear that superstar Justin Timberlake is confirmed this June for his first ever concert tour of Australia. At Justin's personal request audiences in Sydney and Melbourne will join him in intimate venues for an unembellished and personal live performance. With a show focusing on the music rather than special effects, fans down-under will be on their feet dancing from start to finish. The smaller capacity concerts are a new direction for Justin, who recently carried out a limited number of similar shows in the UK and America to wide acclaim. The intimate atmosphere allows him the chance to kick back with his band and interact more with his audience. Justin's solo debut album Justified (out now through BMG) is certified two times platinum (over 140,000) in Australia alone while his four single releases all scored top ten hits on the ARIA charts. Rock Your Body was a number one hit, Cry Me A River scored the number two spot, while Senorita and Like I Love You reached number six and eight respectively. Internationally Justified has sold over seven million units. In just one year Justin received two Grammy's, two Brit Awards, three MTV Awards and a MOBO, rock bible Rolling Stone ran him on their cover three times in 2003 alone and then, on top of this, dedicated an entire separate collector's edition. Without doubt, if there is an accolade in music that you can receive with just one solo album under your belt, then Justin Timberlake has secured it. As Q Magazine wrote in their January 2004 cover story," the success of his solo debut [Justified] has established him as the biggest male star in the world." This is the must-see tour for 2004, so make sure that you've put it as a top priority on your shopping list on Wednesday 28 April because tickets won't be available for long. Melbourne Sydney |
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Justin Timberlake
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