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Los Angeles, CA (CNS) – Thousands of NPR Music’s All Songs Considered listeners voted the “Best Albums of 2009,” which was topped by acts firmly entrenched in the indie rock world. The winner, Grizzly Bear’s “Veckatimest,” beat out other critically acclaimed albums like Animal Collective and Phoenix’s latest.

Animal Collective wasn’t far behind at #2 with “Merriweather Post Pavilion,” while Phoenix took #3 with “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.” Neko Case’s “Middle Cyclone” and Andrew Bird’s “Noble Beast” round out the top 5.

“We could tell early on that 2009 was going to be an outstanding year for music. Bands such as Animal Collective, Andrew Bird, Bon Iver and Antony and the Johnsons all released new music, and that was just in January,” All Songs Considered writes on their website.

An even more complete list, featuring 50 of the best albums of the year, is available for viewing on NPR All Songs Considered website.

NPR’s All Songs Considered Top 25 Best Albums of 2009

1. Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest 2. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion 3. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix 4. Neko Case: Middle Cyclone 5. Andrew Bird: Noble Beast 6. The Decemberists: Hazzards of Love 7. Wilco: Wilco (The Album) 8. Bon Iver: Blood Bank 9. The Avett Brothers: I And Love And You 10. St. Vincent: Actor 11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz! 12. Regina Spektor: Far 13. M. Ward: Hold Time 14. The Swell Season: Strict Joy 15. Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk 16. The Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca 17. Passion Pit: Manners 18. Various: Dark Was The Night 19. Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career 20. Metric: Fantasies 21. Beirut: March of the Zapotec 22. The xx: XX 23. Bat For Lashes: Two Suns 24. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: Up From Below 25. Modest Mouse: No One’s First, And You’re Next

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By their own admission they owe musicians some $50 million in unpaid royalties but they could end up paying out $6 billion.

Who is this ‘they’?

Well how about the music industry for starters, but more specifically in relation to one of the largest class action lawsuits for copyright infringement in Canadian history it turns out to be the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Now before  you start to think that the companies involved through the CRIA are a bunch of small-time Canuck companies let’s clarify the participants by pointing to: Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada.

This all stems from the recording companies using musical works to create compilation CD or live recording without obtaining the necessary copyright licenses, or as described in the lawsuit – “exploit now, pay if at all”. Instead the names of the songs are placed on a “pending list” to signify that approval and payment are pending. This list which is ongoing dates back to the 1980’s and now contains over 300,000 songs from not just obscure artists but well known one’s like Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen.

Even though record companies owe over $50 million (Universal alone owes $30 million) the attitude about paying the artists is cavalier to say the least.

David Basskin, the President and CEO of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd., notes in his affidavit that “the record labels have devoted insufficient resources to identifying and paying the owners of musical works on the Pending Lists.” Basskin adds that some labels believe addressing the issue would be “an unproductive use of their time.”

Source: Michael Geist

The class action suit that has been launched is seeking the option of statutory damages for each infringement. With the amount of $20,000 per infringement the liability of CRIA could easily exceed $6 billion.

And they say the downloaders are the crooks eh.

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Lady Gaga was “a monster” in her pursuit for fame.

The ‘Paparazzi’ singer, who was recently nominated for five Grammy awards, always dreamt about being a star and was determined to do whatever it took to be successful.

She said, “I was fearless with my ambitions. I had this dream and really wanted to be a star.

“I left my family, school and said I want to do it alone. I got three jobs waitressing. I was good at serving Italian food in heels.

The 23-year-old also claimed Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Judy Garland were among her fashion icons.

She said, “All the kookiness, the blood and the craziness is my way of trying to understand that image.

“I’m part designer love, part fashionista and part handmade garments on my own. I made a lot of my clothes.”

The ‘Poker Face’ star, real name Stefani Germanotta, also spoke about her nickname, explaining that friends had compared her with Freddie Mercury, whose band Queen had a hit called ‘Radio Gaga’.

She explained to US TV host Barbara Walters, “My friends started to call me Gaga. They said I was very theatrical and that although I’m in pop music, there was a performance-art element to the show, like Freddie Mercury. So they said, ‘You’re Gaga’.”

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Rihanna likes being a “bad girl”.

The ‘Russian Roulette’ singer has revealed she has a naughty streak and gets a thrill from trying new things which have an element of risk.

She said, “I’m a bad girl and I like dangerous stuff!”

The 21-year-old beauty is also keen to move into acting hopes to transfer her love of danger onto the big screen soon.

She explained, “Hopefully – we are working on that idea right now.”

Earlier in the year, the ‘Umbrella’ hitmaker had a string of meetings with film bosses about upcoming projects and was believed to be in line to star in a remake of ‘The Bodyguard’ – the hit 90s film which starred Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.

Rihanna was also thought to be looking into working on a ‘Charlie’s Angel’s sequel and a film project with Justin Timberlake.

However, last month, the sexy singer, who has been single since splitting from Chris Brown after he assaulted her in February, revealed her dream movie role would be to play lesbian assassin.

She said, “I’d love to be an assassin. Either that or a lesbian. Maybe both! Hey, a gay assassin, there’s nothing hotter than that.”

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Amy Adams will find out the sex of her unborn baby.

The ‘Doubt’ actress, who is expecting her first child with fiance Darren Le Gallo, admits she is “too impatient” to wait for the child to be born before finding out whether she’s having a boy or a girl.

She told ‘Entertainment Tonight,’ “I’m too impatient to wait for a surprise. We’ll probably find out. I thought about waiting and I just don’t think that’s really my personality. It’s not about planning a nursery, it’s more about I just want to know. I want to be able to relate in that way. That’s what works for me, but I totally believe in whatever works for the individual.”

Amy, 35, got engaged to Darren last July but says she’s been too busy to get married. But now she’s got some time off she’s going to start planning their nuptials.

She said, “We actually had a date, and then we had to push it because I took a part. I actually had to get permission and I called him and said, ‘We’re actually going to have to push the date.’ Now that I have the time off we’ll definitely be planning it.”

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The latest chapter in the Tiger Woods scandal, the dramatic transport of a woman from Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren’s home in the middle of the night, unfolded around Woods’ mother-in-law, Barbro Holmberg.

Holmberg is listed in stable condition at Health Central Hospital, the same facility that treated her son-in-law Tiger on the night of his one-car Cadillac accident. Holmberg was reportedly admitted with stomach pains, and is being treated in an area safe from prying media eyes. A spokesman for the hospital said:

“(Holmberg) is stable and in good condition,” said Yates. “The family has visited. She was brought here in a Health Center ambulance. She was admitted with stomach pains.”

The spokesman also commented on privacy concerns due to the media frenzy surrounding the famous family:

“There are other patients on the (fifth) floor. It’s an easier floor to secure. … There would be stiff penalties if any information comes out. It was the Health Care paramedics that picked (Holmberg) up at Tiger Woods’ house. She came in complaining of stomach discomfort. She was admitted almost right away. We have been doing our due dilligence running tests. I will say they there has been some pretty wild speculation out there. There have been some erroneous and speculative reports.”

Holberg is a politician in Sweden, where she resides and where Woods’ wife Elin was born and raised.

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Hulk Hogan has got engaged.

The legendary wrestler, real name Terry Bollea, and his girlfriend of nearly two years, Jennifer McDaniel, will tie the knot after he popped the question.

A source said, “He is engaged and very happy.”

The date for the wedding is not yet known.

The news comes just fives months after Hulk finalized his divorce from ex-wife Linda Bollea, after 25 years together.

Speaking afterwards, Linda admitted she would always love the former WWE grappler – with who she has two children, Nick, 19, and Brooke, 21 – and pledged to stay in contact with him.

She said, “The war is over. I still love him. He’s the father of my children. My husband took the big step of stopping this escalating war by making the decision to put this behind us. I am grateful to him for realizing that our family can be happier and stronger by working together. He and I both love our family dearly and look forward to working together to make it stronger than it has ever been. My family means the world to me.”

Although the pair are now on speaking terms, the initial stages of their divorce were bitterly fought and Hulk, 56, revealed he had contemplated suicide.

In his autobiography, ‘My Life Outside the Ring’, Hulk wrote: “There were times when I thought that a whole bottle of pills would go down easy.

“Then I noticed the gun in my hand. I was careless with it… I kept my finger pressed right to that trigger… and if I moved that finger an inch in the right direction I would have blown my brains out.”

Hulk shot to fame in the 80s as the World Wrestling Federation champion and with appearances in a string of films, including ‘Rocky III’ in which he fought the title character.

His most famous match against Andre the Giant, real name Andre Rene Roussimoff, at Wrestlemania III in 1987 drew a crowd of around 93,000 and several million TV viewers.

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Leona Lewis was reportedly paid $150,000 for a private concert.

The ‘Happy’ singer was flown by private jet to Monte Carlo for the birthday party of Romania’s richest man on Saturday, December 5.

Leona sang a short set for 25 guests in the exclusive show at a private banqueting suite in the state’s Hotel De Paris.

The singer then flew to Germany where she wowed millions of TV viewers with a performance on hugely popular show ‘Wetten Dass’ yesterday, December 12,for which she wore a short white dress.

Although she agreed to perform at the private party, Leona has previously turned down other lucrative earning opportunities. Last month, it emerged Leona had been offered over $1.5 million to appear naked in men’s magazine Playboy.

Although she was “flattered” to have been asked to appear in the pages of the publication, Leona is simply too shy to strip off for a shoot.

She has previously said, “I’m not that confident! I just don’t think I could pose nude, because I’m not that brave.”

Leona is not the only pop star to cash in with a private performance.

Rihanna is reportedly set to earn $500,000 to perform at a New Year’s Eve party, December 31.

The ‘Umbrella’ singer has been asked to sing at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi to help revellers see in 2010 in what will be her first performance in the Middle East.

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Has Tiger Woods lost his damn mind?

A TV station local to Tiger Woods’ home in Windemere, FL caught a scene last night in which a woman (only described as blonde) was removed from the home by paramedics, reportedly on “advanced life support.” Fire/rescue spokeswoman Genevieve Latham confirmed to ABC that the woman was taken to Health Central Hospital, but did not confirm details of her identity or condition. The local ABC affiliate reports that a Cadillac Escalade with plates similar to those on the vehicle Woods was driving the night of his accident and possible run in with a set of golf clubs followed the ambulance to the hospital, and was also driven by “a blonde woman.”

The identity of both women is a mystery, but reports also indicate that Elin Nordegren’s mother and twin sister have come to stay with Nordegren in the wake of the revelation of Tiger’s very many supposed mistresses. Back in Mrs. Woods’ home country of Sweden, there are reports that she purchased a $2m home known as Faglaro Mansion, located on a small island reachable by ferry from Stockholm.

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Hugh Grant has nightmares about reaching 50.

The Hollywood bachelor, who previously dated actress-and-model Elizabeth Hurley and socialite Jemima Khan, is dreading reaching the landmark age and fears time is running out for him to get married and have children.

Hugh who turns 50 on September 9, 2010 said, “It’s not a good number 50 and we all have age terrors sometimes in the middle of the night. I think I might have made a sort of pact with the devil in which I think I can have fun now and sort everything later. But then he comes back and says, ‘Times up and I’m taking you to hell as you’re going to be a lonely, sad old man.’”

Although the ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’ star worries he won’t ever become a father, he believes he would be a great dad if he did.

He told Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper, “I have no doubt that I’d be a marvelous father. Maybe not when they’re tiny but when they’re a little bit older I think I’d be rather good. I’ve noticed I’ve become good with my nephews and nieces and cousins, so I don’t have that doubt. “

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