Featured Artist: Gorillaz

Featured Artist : February 2010, Gorillaz

Our first non-solo artist to gain “featured” status comes in the shape of the mighty Gorillaz. Having been featured on shows such as Smallville, House, Cold Case, Angel, The OC and Six Degrees – they certainly have the pedigree to be a featured artist. Their latest studio album “Plastic Beach” is to be launched very soon worldwide and brings with it more great tunes that will soon be all over TV.

Conceived as the first “virtual hip-hop group,” Gorillaz blended the musical talents of Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori, and Tom Tom Club’s Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz with the arresting visuals of Jamie Hewlett, best known as the creator of the cult comic Tank Girl. Nakamura’s Deltron 3030 cohorts Kid Koala and Del tha Funkee Homosapien rounded out the creative team behind the Gorillaz quartet, whose virtual members included 2-D, the cute but spacy singer/keyboardist; Murdoc, the spooky, possibly Satanic bassist and the brains behind the group; Russel, a drummer equally inspired by “Farrakhan and Chaka Khan” and possessed by “funkyphantoms” that occasionally rise up and provide some zombie-style rapping; and last but not least, Noodle, a ten-year-old Japanese guitar virtuosa and martial arts master. The group’s website, www.gorillaz.com, showcased Hewlett’s visuals and the group’s music in eye- and ear-catching detail.

Gorillaz debuted in late 2000 with the Tomorrow Comes Today EP, which they followed early the next year with the popular Clint Eastwood single. A self-titled, full-length debut album arrived in spring 2001. Gorillaz was a massive worldwide success and achieved platinum-level sales in the U.S.; worldwide, it sold over seven million copies. The group’s Svengalis were quick to capitalize, and released the B-sides collection G-Sides, the Phase One: Celebrity Takedown DVD, and the dub-inspired remix album Laika Come Home in 2002. The project soon went on hiatus, however, as Albarn resumed work with Blur for their seventh album, 2003’s Think Tank.

When he was ready to begin the next Gorillaz album, Albarn turned to Danger Mouse (the DJ behind The Grey Album, the infamous mash-up of the Beatles’ White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album) and a host of other collaborators, including De La Soul, Shaun Ryder, Debbie Harry, Dennis Hopper, and Martina Topley-Bird. Although Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Nakamura did not return, 2-D, Russel, Murdoc, and Noodle were all present and accounted for on Demon Days, another Top Ten hit, which arrived in spring 2005. The album went double platinum in America and enjoyed even more success in the U.K.; it also received a host of Grammy nominations, a sign that the band had secured critical as well as commercial approval. Gorillaz broke ground for a new album in 2007, but the project wasn’t released until 2010, when Plastic Beach marked the band’s third studio effort.

Biography written by Heather Phares allmusic

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Gorillaz (2001)	Demon Days (2006)	D-Sides (2007)

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Featured Artist: Joshua Radin

Featured Artist : February 2010, Joshua Radin

Joshua Radin becomes the third in our series of featured artists at TV Tunes. His music has appeared in many TV shows such as Without a Trace, House, Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Brothers and Sisters, Lie to Me, Bones and 90210.

Though Joshua Radin enjoyed singing during his childhood, the Cleveland native never intended to be a professional musician. Instead, he studied drawing and painting at Northwestern University, following his college years with stints as an art teacher, screenwriter, and art gallery employee. Eventually, Radin took a stab at songwriting and played one of his earliest compositions, “Winter,” for his friend Zach Braff. The burgeoning actor/director took an immediate liking to the song, and “Winter” soon found its way onto Braff’s hit television show Scrubs in early 2004. After fans began to request more of his music, Radin decided to pursue a songwriting career and signed with Columbia Records, which issued his debut album, We Were Here, in 2006. Radin relocated to Los Angeles and aligned himself with the Hotel Cafe, a unique Hollywood venue specializing in performances by singer/songwriters. He soon found himself playing national tour dates with a number of Hotel Cafe regulars, including Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles, and Meiko. Meanwhile, he issued a pair of digital EPs (via iTunes) while readying the release of his sophomore album, Simple Times, which arrived in late 2008.

Biography written by Marisa Brown & Andrew Leahey allmusic

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We Were Here (2006)	Unclear Sky EP (2008)	Simple Times (2009)

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Featured Artist: John Mayer

Featured Artist : February 2010, John Mayer

The second artist to make it into our featured list is none other than John Mayer. His music has appeared in many of our favourite shows including House, Numb3rs, Alias, CSI, CSI New York, Cold Case and Shark as well as appearing in movies such as ‘Music & Lyrics’, ‘Serendipity’ and Disney’s ‘Cars’ for which he performed the classic “Route 66″. Without doubt the most successful track that has been featured in many TV shows has been “Gravity” which also won a Grammy award. See below for more details about John Mayer.

After making his introduction as a sensitive, acoustic-styled songwriter on 2001’s Room for Squares, John Mayer steadily widened his approach over the subsequent years, encompassing everything from blues-rock to adult contemporary in the process. Arriving during the tail end of teen pop’s heyday, he crafted pop music for a more discerning audience, spiking his songcraft with jazz chords and literate turns of phrase. The combination proved to be quite popular, as Room for Squares went triple platinum before its follow-up release, Heavier Things, arrived in September 2003. Mayer continued to retool his sound with each album, however, moving beyond the material that had launched his career and adopting elements of rock, blues, and soul. Moreover, he partnered with legends of several genres, making guest appearances on albums by Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and B.B. King, while touring alongside jazz icon Herbie Hancock. Mayer also retained enough pop/rock foundation to continue his reign of the charts, making him one of the decade’s most popular songwriters. … Continue Reading

Featured Artist : Ingrid Michaelson

Featured Artist : February 2010, Ingrid Michaelson

Download Ingrid Michaelson from iTunes
Boys and Girls (2007)	Be OK (2008)	Everybody (2009)

The first artist to make it into our series of featured artists is Ingrid Michaelson. Her music has appeared in many TV shows including; Grey’s Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty and Scrubs. Following in the eclectic footsteps of her mother, a sculptor and her father, a classical composer, Ingrid began piano lessons at only four years old. Her songwriting career began after college while touring the country in a national theater troupe and spending all her free time composing the songs that would eventually make it onto her first CD, Girls and Boys. … Continue Reading