Madonna

Madonna may have crossed over into AARP territory, and her lyrics haven’t evolved much since the days of Holiday, but she still puts 9 out of 10 dance music divas to shame, as she demonstrates with her latest track, Celebration.

Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM, was found dead today at his apartment at age 36. A drug overdose is suspected, because drug paraphernalia was found at the scene.

Goldstein is probably best known to many because of his relationship with Nicole Richie, but his scratching can be heard on tracks by Madonna, Will Smith and others.

The video, above, catches DJ AM performing with Travis Barker. Just a year ago, Goldstein and Barker were the only survivors of a plane crash which killed four other passengers.

His last statement, via Twitter, was this:

“New York, New York. Big city of dreams, but everything in New York ain’t always what it seems.”

Open Labs caught up with Madonna keyboardist Ric’key Pageot in Houston, Texas during Madonna’s “Sticky and Sweet Tour.”

Ric’key is using a custom-painted, purple sparkle MiKo as the center of his live rig for the world tour with Madonna. Ric’key was previously the Cirque du Soleil band leader before his job with Madonna, check out more on Ric’key Pageot and Open Labs at www.openlabs.com/rickey-pageot.

The video’s clearly a Open Labs promo, but it’s also a decent interview with Pageot and offers some insight into the world of a top gigging keyboardist. 

This is a little off topic – but Phil RetroSpector’s mashup of Amy Winehouse, Madonna & Betty Page, Back to Virginity, is a lot more fun than watching a Guy Ritchie movie.

BBC NEWS has a story today about how German techno pop group Scooter have caused a shock by knocking Madonna off the top of the UK album chart after just one week, despite little mainstream exposure.

It is the biggest coup yet for Blackburn-based independent record label All Around the World, who say they are catering for a thriving suburban club scene.

Peering down from the summit of the album chart last week, Madonna probably did not think she had any reason to fear a trio peddling steroid-enhanced dance beats, pumped-up cover versions and high-octane trance melodies.

Scooter’s new material has had next to no radio airplay, and the album was not reviewed in the national press. Yet it has sold 33,500 copies in its first week – 4,000 more than Madonna’s Hard Candy.”Basically, there’s a lot of people like them,” according to All Around the World director Matt Cadman. “Scooter have been a massive band in Europe for a long time.”

This looks like another sign that the old world of music is breaking down.

Radio no longer determines what’s a hit. People are finding their new music on YouTube, blogs and social music sites, and groups like Scooter and NIN are figuring out how to work the new system.

What will be really interesting to see is whether new artists can make the system work for them as well as established artists.