People are people, and sometimes they sue video game manufacturers for causing them alienation. GameSpot reports that a San Jose gamer named Erik Estavillo is suing Activision Blizzard, makers of the online multiplayer game World of Warcraft, for a whole mess of poorly thought-out reasons. Estavillo believes that the game’s monthly subscription fee is too high and that its various other charges are too numerous, and he also believes that the game contributes to his sense of alienation. To that end, Estavillo has subpoenaed Depeche Mode multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Martin Gore, who, to hear Estavillo tell it, is an expert in alienation (via Slicing Up Eyeballs).

Earlier this month, Alicia Keys told Billboard.com that since her album, “The Element of Freedom,” was pushed back from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15, she used the additional time to work on possibly “the most exciting collaborations of my career yet.” Now her label, J Records, confirms the album includes a duet with Beyoncé as well as one with newcomer Drake.

“Put It In A Love Song” features Beyoncé, while “Unthinkable (I’m Ready)” has background vocals by Drake. There’s also the reggae-tinged “Love is My Disease;” the 80s-inspired “This Bed;” and first and second singles “Doesn’t Mean Anything” and “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart,” which are at No. 18 and No. 41 on this week’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, respectively.

“Element of Freedom” features production from Jeff Bhasker, Swizz Beatz, longtime collaborator Kerry “Krucial” Brothers and Drake’s producer, Noah “40″ Shebib.

In support of “Element,” Keys is set to appear on “The Today Show,” “Oprah,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” and “The View,” among others, in coming weeks. Additionally, she will perform an intimate, sold-out concert in New York City on Dec. 1 (World AIDS day and the original release date of the album), with 100% of the proceeds being donated to the “Keep A Child Alive” charity. The event will be streamed live on YouTube at 8 p.m. EST.

Here is the tracklist for “The Element of Freedom:”

“Element Of Freedom (Intro)”         �
“Love Is Blind”                              �
“Doesn’t Mean Anything”                      �
“Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart”   �
“Wait Til You See My Smile”          �
“That’s How Strong My Love Is”       �
“Un-thinkable (I’m Ready)”                   �
“Love Is My Disease”                 �
“Like The Sea”                       �
“Put It In A Love Song” (featuring Beyoncé)  �
“This Bed”                                   �
“Distance And Time”                  �
“How It Feels To Fly”                �
“Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down”

From Billboard 11/24/09

http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/alicia-keys-confirms-beyonce-drake-collaborations-1004047932.story

Sade, the “quiet storm” R&B group featuring vocalist Sade Adu, has completed its long-awaited sixth studio album. “Soldier of Love,”  the band’s first collection of new material since 2000′s “Lover’s Rock” will be released Feb. 8, 2010 worldwide on Epic.

As first revealed on Billboard.com in July, Sade and her longtime bandmates including Stuart Matthewman, a.k.a. Cottonbelly, regrouped in a U.K. recording studio in June and were recording and mixing into October.

Though no details about Sade‘s new music have yet been revealed, one artist heard early versions of several songs: Maxwell, a fellow Sony recording artist and longtime friend and collaborator with Matthewman. The R&B singer sent a message to fans in March via his private Facebook page in which he indicated that he’d heard some of his labelmate’s new recordings. “Trust me, it’s so monolithic it’ll shake you in your shoes!” he wrote.
�
Sade’s 2000 release, “Lovers Rock,” sold 3,881,000 copies in the U.S. and the prior album, 1992′s “Love Deluxe,” sold 3,407,000. Since 1985′s “Diamond Life” debut, Sade has sold nearly 17 million units in the U.S. alone according to Nielsen SoundScan.

From Billboard 11/24/09

http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/sade-returning-in-2010-with-soldier-of-love-1004047949.story

There’s another new supergroup of sorts on the horizon: two members of Fall Out Boy are using their time away from the band to provide riffs and beats for a new heavy metal side project called the Damned Things. FOB guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley have teamed with Anthrax’s Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano, Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley and bassist David Karon in the new band, which Ian describes to Rock Sound as “Kyuss meeting Thin Lizzy.”

According to Rock Sound, the Damned Things have already written and demoed 15 songs with the hope of entering the studio in December. “It’s super fun and it’s something that we do totally take seriously because we love the music we’ve created,” Ian said, describing new song “A Great Reckoning” as worthy of “any Thin Lizzy record.” The band’s roots can be traced back to at least October 2008, when the Damned Things’ MySpace page was created. Judging by the comments on that page, a Damned Things song was initially posted there but has since been deleted.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, after years of constantly recording and touring, Fall Out Boy are going on a hiatus — even though Wentz told RS it was more like an indefinite vacation — but Trohman and Hurley won’t be catching up on R&R during the break, instead taking the opportunity to step out of Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz’s shadows. “People think of Fall Out Boy and they think of Pete Wentz and Patrick,” Ian told Rock Sound, “These two guys, man, they’re fucking hardcore dudes. Joe writes some amazing riffs.”

From Rolling Stone 11/25/09

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/25/fall-out-boy-anthrax-members-unite-in-the-damned-things/

When actors like Thomas Jane, Ron Perlman and John Malkovich come together, one expects nothing short of greatness from a film. Tragically enough, that wasn’t the case with Mutant Chronicles. The sci-fi film begins in the year 2707 when the four biggest world corporations are at war over the planet’s diminishing resources. Unbeknownst to them, though, they foolishly open an ancient burial and unleash an army of mutants from beneath their eternal prison. It is now up to an army of soldiers to destroy them before humankind ceases to exist. (more…)

While we presently sing the praises of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band as a national treasure, what about Tom Waits? I didn’t see Tom Waits when he was in the area on his 2008 Glitter and Doom tour; after listening to the Glitter and Doom Live, I realized I missed a real event. (more…)

Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Royal Tenenbaums) has never made an animated movie. But don’t let that stop you from seeing Fantastic Mr. Fox, his first foray into the genre. The stop-motion animated film features the voice of George Clonney as Mr. Fox, a small-time thief who promises his pregnant wife Felicity (Meryl Streep) that he’ll give up stealing and take up a much safer profession.

(more…)

Hailing from Australia, The Ten Tenors have long been the rage Down Under, but throughout the past ten years, the troupe’s also earned international appreciation thanks to its skillful interpretations of jazz treasures, post-war standards, straight up pop and classically-inspired holiday cuts. Though the group’s title would imply an incredibly formal tone, the collective of twenty and thirty somethings looked they could’ve either come from a boy band or given Il Divo and Josh Groban some fan base competition. (more…)