After an exhausting European tour, from which they diligently sent Buzzworthy video dispatches from the road, the Spill Canvas is safe and sound back here in the States and touring up a modest s—storm.

But according to the band, all that touring abroad put a strain on their chops. Which is why, in a move reminiscent of the Bravery’s Artist of the Week stint, they brought in, um, “Coach Ferguson” (who’s like a very Tenacious D-esque combo of Fire Marshall Bill and Tom Anderson — not be confused with Tom Anderson of MySpace — who was, if you recall, the old-dude neighbor on Beavis and Butt-Head) to help them re-focus on their craft.

We know we’re uncomfortable, and chances are, you will be too.

(Credit: Neal Preston / CORBIS, via People.com)

We swear, it was never initially our intention to post two New Kids items today (though truly, what better way to welcome new Buzzworthy blogger BuzzRock into the fray?), but the world really needs to know — NKOTB are poised to drop the comeback bomb when they appear on The Today Show this Friday, April 4.

The announcement *ever so perfectly* coincides with the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough album, “Hangin’ Tough,” which sold an unbelievable 16 million copies worldwide. Check out their official site for a sentimental reel of through-the-years highlights, including Elizabeth Hasselback and one of the other chicks from The View doing the “Hangin’ Tough” dance. (Awkward!)

In addition to our denim tuxedos and pork pie hats (Joey Mac was doing it before Fergie!), we’ll also be dusting off our VHS players to “tape” the show. (Just kidding. It’s slowly decomposing in a landfill somewhere, so we’ll Tivo it like everyone else.) Meanwhile, you feel free work on those “not-so-new-kids” puns. (Also, in other Today Show news that you probably care even less about: Kathie Lee Gifford is joining the show’s cast.

Now watch “Step by Step” — it hurts us more than it hurts you.

Hi there, music lovers. I’m BuzzRock, Buzzworthy’s new blogger helping to bring you the latest music videos and news on our favorite artists.

I thought long and hard about which music videos to show you in my first post. Since Buzzworthy is all about the music people love, I chose one of the very first bands I was passionate about…

Before there was *NSync, Backstreet Boys, Hanson and The Jonas Brothers, there was N.K.O.T.B.:

New Kids were my favorite old-school concert, but since then my tastes have changed a bit. Clickety clack onward for a few more of my all-time favorite videos (they’re a little more current than New Kids — promise). Read more…

Despite photos like this popping up all around the Internet, and their alleged Parisian tryst (so Hills!) Chris Brown is still categorically denying his relationship with Rihanna. Rudeness! The two also walked the orange carpet solo and sat apart this weekend at Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards, where Chris picked up an award for favorite male singer. Maybe he wasn’t feeling Rihanna’s polka dot corset and denim quasi-Hammer pants.

Read more…

Last week, Artist of the Week ventured into international waters with French femme fatale Yelle. So this week, in keeping the Euro theme, we’re stepping out of the States and focusing on another foreign artist.
Enter Paddy Casey. He’s the biggest singer-songwriter you’ve probably never heard of but probably aren’t going to stop hearing about any time soon.

The thought-provoking Irish troubadour started out busking on the streets of Dublin and Galway and was ultimately discovered at a bar gig when he was still just in his teens. He went on to release three full-length albums, each culling from his boundless music tastes — from ’60s funk and soul to Bob Marley to Bob Dylan, to whom he’s frequently (and not lightly) compared — and each gaining him more and more attention in Ireland.

Read more…

Leona Lewis — season 3 winner of The X Factor, the British equivalent of American Idol — scored her first #1 song in the U.S. this week with “Bleeding Love,” which was the U.K.’s biggest-selling single of 2007. (She got a big boost here in the States by appearing on Oprah last week, and it’s been reported that she’ll perform on AI this season.) But her “Bleeding Love” success almost wasn’t meant to be — the song was actually written by Jesse McCartney for his upcoming album, Departure.

When Jesse dropped by 1515 recently, we chatted him up about how the song wound up in Leona’s lap and whether he has any regrets about letting it slip through his fingers. See what he had to say and then watch the video for “Bleeding Love”…

Watch more of our interview with Jesse here and then check back next week for an exclusive interview with Leona and a chance to listen to her debut album before it’s released!

“It’s been awhile,” to put it in Britney parlance, since we’ve done a Chris Crocker update. So… here he is at a SocialVibe.com party last night (we’re going to go ahead and assume it was in L.A.) looking more like Chloe Sevigny than Chrisypoo. Are they sharing clothes or something?

(Credit: Dlisted.com)

Regardless, it’s good to see that everyone’s favorite Britney fan, who was recently — and unjustly! — robbed of YouTube award for his weepy “Leave Britney Alone” video, has sprouted a trannylicious weave and has fully committing to dressing like a glammed-up Jim Henson castoff.

Britney’s emo-est enthusiast also recently released a dance single under the name Double J. The track’s title? “Leave Britney Alone.” And it racked up over 1 million listens on iTunes. You go, um… girl!?

Oh yeah: color-appropriate video by another cry-guy:

L.A. pop-punk band A Cursive Memory spent half a year working on the video for their low-fi emo single, “Everything,” but they didn’t spend weeks casting the perfect pony-tailed pretty girl to play the starring role. There would be no unknown pony-tailed chick, and, with the exception of themselves and a seriously old-school ghetto blaster (immortalized on the cover of a Run-D.M.C. album in a previous life), they didn’t do any casting at all. But they did manage to wrangle scores of random celebrity cameos — Paris Hilton, Steve-O, will.i.am, Kevin Connolly (famously documented on TMZ, who referred to him a d-bag), Britney Spears, Perez Hilton, Jerry Springer — and get socked in the face by Diddy’s bodyguard, who called the cops on them after Diddy gave them his best “oh HELLLLLLLIS no” face.

Naturally, we needed to know more. So we brought A Cursive Memory to MTV and turned the camera on them to get more dirt on “Bandarazzi,” see who didn’t make the cut, and find out what was too hot for their inevitably viral video.

We, like John Vesely (AKA Secondhand Serenade), are drawn to anything classically epic: OneRepublic’s latest single, “Stop and Stare,” Jane Child’s “Don’t Wanna Fall In Love,” the 2008 presidential election.

And epic is exactly how he wanted his track, “Like a Knife,” off his new album, A Twist In My Story, to sound.

See what inspired “Like a Knife,” and check out his previous Buzzworthy posts about writing and recording “A Twist In My Story” and “Fall For You.”

I love “Like a Knife” because it’s really big. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted this song to sound like, but the trick was actually having it end up sounding like it did in my head. It was the first song that me and Danny Lohner — my producer — worked on when we started the album. Brandon, the former drummer of the Used, came in and laid down an AMAZING foundation for us to work with. From there I just started adding the layers. I wanted to give it a really epic feel. All the parts came really naturally, and it turned out sounding better than I imagined. Needless to say, it was a pretty good start for the album.

Read more…

Rickrollin’ — the harmless yet annoying bait-and-switch practice of intentionally misleading an unsuspecting Internet reader from an intended link to a covert Rick Astley video (see also: “dorkiness”) — is no new phenomenon, but it may have officially jumped the shark as of this interview, which confirms that Rick Astley himself is fully cognizant of the practice.

What this means (aside from the fact that bizarrely, Rick Astley now looks slightly like Jason Bateman) is that all you low-grade haxx0rs out there need to find a new game. Which is why we suggest RickRossRollin’ — same idea, different video: Rick Ross’ “Hustlin’.”

Also: MTV.com has not one, not two, but EIGHT Rick Astley videos! We went with what we editorially determined is the most annoying one of all.

And finally, there was a time when Rick Astley looked like Rick Springfield, a time when Rick Springfield looked like Tommy Lee, and a time when Rick Springfield breaking his arm made news. Weird.