It was “Rock Week” on X Factor tonight. FUCK YEAHHHH! Oh man—what’s going to happen?! Will Dannii rock a mohawk?! Will Cheryl Cole light her nipples on fire?! Will Katie Weasel not be impossibly grating?

No, none of that happened.

Read More…

I don’t want to tempt fate, but if that’s not a number one, I’ll eat my sofa.

As the man responsible for such songs as Diana Vickers‘ “The Boy Who Murdered Love,” The Saturdays‘ “Chasing Lights,” and Will Young‘s “Anything is Possible,” as well as some of the upcoming material from Pixie Lott and JLS, pop songwriter and producer Chris Braide has seen his fair share of glory in the UK Top 40 recently.

Two weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of speaking with the busy producer from his studio in London (which is about to be packed away and carted stateside!)

I’m quite proud of this interview–we touched upon all sorts of artists and ended up having a really in-depth discussion about the very nature of pop itself.

Read on to hear all the gossip from behind Braide’s soundboard–loads of pop nerd chatter ahead!

Click “Read More…” to view the entire interview.

Read more »

For all the U2 fans out there, I’ve got one doozy of a prize set ready to go for a MuuMuse Excluusive giveaway.

U2′s classic The Unforgettable Fire, first released in 1984, is receiving the re-release treatment in honor of its 25th Anniversary this year in a variety of physical formats. But don’t take my word for it, allow this press release to explain it in detail!

Limited Edition Box Set: containing 2 CDs (remastered album and bonus audio CD), a DVD with live footage, documentary and videos, a 56 page hardback book with liner notes by The Edge, Brian Eno, Danny Lanois, Bert Van de Kamp and Niall Stokes, and 5 photographic prints

· Deluxe Edition: containing 2 CDs; the remastered album, and the bonus audio CD which features

B-sides and previously unreleased material, a 36 page booklet with liner notes by The Edge, Brian Eno, Danny Lanois and Bert Van de Kamp

· CD format: featuring the remastered album

· 12″ vinyl format: 16 page booklet with liner notes by Brian Eno, Danny Lanois and Bert Van de Kamp

In celebration of the recent re-mastering of U2′s 1984 The Unforgettable Fire, MuuMuse is giving away THE ENTIRE re-mastered vinyl catalog that includes not only this re-release of The Unforgettable Fire.but alsoOctober, Boy, War, Under A Blood Red Sky, Joshua Tree.

To enter to win, send an e-mail to u2@muumuse.com including the name of your favorite U2 album. A winner will be chosen at random on Friday, November 13 (a day of good luck for one winner!) at 12:00 p.m. EST.

Good luck!

Purchase more from U2 on iTunes | MySpace | Official Website

Many, many thanks to all the entries for the U2 I’ll Go Crazy…If I Don’t Win This Contest!. They were mostly hilarious, and I really appreciated (and took advantage of) all the promised sexual favors and monetary bribery. And now, drumroll please…

The winner of the super fan prize pack is: Muuser Vincente F., who sent in this grammatically dubious yet undeniably heartfelt explanation of just how he’d go crazy if he didn’t win this contest:

If I don’t win this contest I will go to the nearest ice-cream store, buy 10 gallons of chocolate ice-cream, search Bono and the rest of the band around the world while I eat the ice-cream, otherwise I’d be hungry… When I find the band I will share some of my ice-cream, if theres still is some, with them and then show them via webcam with my laptop all their stuff I own, including the sweated towel Bono threw to the crowd in one of his concerts, and then make them give one of those amazing teachers and oblige them to give muumuse an exclusive interview… and finally after I convince them of everything I will take Bono to another ICE-CREAM STORE and invite him another ice-cream …

Thanks for playing everyone!

As usual, keep reading–more giveaways await in the very near future.

Purchase “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” on iTunes | MySpace | Official Website

You a big U2 fan? Yes? No? Well, figure that out about yourself and get back to me.

In celebration of the prolific band’s upcoming single release on August 17, “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” MuuMuse is proud to present the U2: I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Win Contest!

Up for grabs in this giveaway? One (1) T-Shirt (that will look something like this), one (1) vinyl 7″ of their last single “Get On Your Boots,” and an assortment of U2 posters and stickers.

Want to win this most excellent fan package? All you have to do is send an e-mail to U2@muumuse.com with the subject line “I’LL GO CRAZY!” and a brief explanation of HOW YOU’LL GO CRAZY if you don’t win this contest by 12 PM EST on Wednesday, August 5 to enter. And please, no suicide threats.

In the meantime, check out the brand new video created for the single by animator David OReilly. It’s really cute, though it never quite stops seeming as though that stupid animated e-bitch Erin Esurance from the Esurance.com commercials is going to come bursting out from somewhere in her pseudo-”Toxic” outfit. Too far? I’m sorry.

Dublin, IR Croke Park Fri Jul 24 / 09
Dublin, IR Croke Park Sat Jul 25 / 09
Dublin, IR Croke Park Mon Jul 27 / 09
Goteboerg, SWE Ullevi Stadium Fri Jul 31 / 09
Goteboerg, SWE Ullevi Stadium Sat Aug 01 / 09
Gelsenkirchen, GER Veltins Arena Mon Aug 03 / 09
Chorzow, PL Stadionie Slaskim Thu Aug 06 / 09
Zagreb, HR Maksimir Stadium Sun Aug 09 / 09
Zagreb, HR Maksimir Stadium Mon Aug 10 / 09
London, UK Wembley Stadium Fri Aug 14 / 09
London, UK Wembley Stadium Sat Aug 15 / 09
Glasgow, UK Hampden Park Tue Aug 18 / 09
Sheffield, UK Don Valley Stadium Thu Aug 20 / 09
Cardiff, UK Millennium Stadium Sat Aug 22 / 09
Chicago, IL Soldier Field Sat Sep 12 / 09
Chicago, IL Soldier Field Sun Sep 13 / 09
Toronto, ON Rogers Centre Wed Sep 16 / 09
Toronto, ON Rogers Centre Thu Sep 17 / 09
Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium (Foxboro) Sun Sep 20 / 09
Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium (Foxboro) Mon Sep 21 / 09
East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium Thu Sep 24 / 09
East Rutherford, NJ Giants Stadium Fri Sep 25 / 09
Landover, MD FedEx Field Tue Sep 29 / 09
Charlottesville, VA Scott Stadium Thu Oct 01 / 09
Raleigh, NC Carter Finley Stadium Sat Oct 03 / 09
Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome Tue Oct 06 / 09
Tampa, FL Raymond James Stadium Fri Oct 09 / 09
Arlington, TX Dallas Cowboys Stadium Mon Oct 12 / 09
Houston, TX Reliant Stadium Wed Oct 14 / 09
Norman, OK Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Sun Oct 18 / 09
Glendale, AZ University of Phoenix Stadium Tue Oct 20 / 09
Las Vegas, NV Sam Boyd Stadium Fri Oct 23 / 09
Pasadena, CA The Rose Bowl Sun Oct 25 / 09
Vancouver, BC B.C. Place Stadium Wed Oct 28 / 09
Past Shows

Click here to purchase tickets to see U2.

Click “Read More” to see all of U2′s upcoming tour dates, and below to hear more from U2.

The director for Britney‘s latest video is the talented Joseph Kahn, responsible for “Toxic” and “Stronger,” as well as videos for Destiny’s Child, Moby, U2, and many more. Today, Kahn blogged about the experience of filming Spears’ latest endeavor:

Anyway…Womanizer.

I’ve been on this side of celebrity for so long that I’ve got to see some really messed up things. She can’t go to a fucking McDonald’s without a mean, shitty blog written about her.

And ten years of it, every move.

No doubt you have to be strong to survive this business. But at the end of the day, she’s still a girl. Dickheads.

I genuinely like her. She has a good southern laugh. I think she’s a good person in a fucked up world. I’ve worked with bad people. She’s not one of them. Not by a long shot.

So I really wanted Womanizer’s video to be good.

I literally could not find anytime to sleep this last week. I got six hours in four days. If I had slept more than that, the video would have suffered.

Turned it in for broadcast. Went to work on other projects. Went home, watched the premiere, checked for reactions.

They love Britney again.

I don’t know if it was because I was punch drunk tired, but I almost cried.

It’s such a genuine, caring response, and really captures the essence of my infatuation, and even more so, defense of Spears. She is a glimmer of innocence within a deeply polluted sea of greed and malice. Sure, her work is far from innocent (and let’s not cross over into the arena of “legitimacy” or “originality” in regard to her music here), but her intention is little more than entertainment. I’ll always be rooting for her.

With the current state of political turmoil and economic corruption, it’s crucial to have something…anything to turn to for temporary escape from the madness. For me, it’s found in Britney Spears.