SCREAMing For Cornell
Back in the day when grunge and bands from Seattle ruled the musical world, Nirvana along with Pearl Jam seemed to be all that folks wanted to talk about. Meanwhile I remember discovering that there were other voices up in the PNW and became a big fan of Soundgarden and their frontman Chris Cornell. After Soundgarden disbanded in 1997, Cornell became a member of the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Audioslave from 2000 to 2007. As a solo artist since then Cornell released a well-received album in the summer of 2007 (which included a remake of Michael Jackson's "Bille Jean") and is now back this spring with the 13-track Scream. Produced by superstar hip-hop/R&B producer Timbaland, Cornell proves that his talent knows no bounds and that he is willing to explore new musical avenues. While the club-friendly direction of Scream will be a bit surprising to some of Cornell's die-hard fans, the album is nonetheless a real treat and is sure to impress old and new admirers alike.

Round-up
A quick trip through my inbox reveals several new discs worthy of mention. First up is the maxi-single CD of "Boom," and new dance track by Anjulie that's beginning to get some well-deservd club play. Available via iTunes and Amazon.com MP3, remixes are served up by Bimbo Jones, Mike Rizzo, Brazilian Girls, and Greg Kursin. I'm particularly liking the Brazilian Gilrs effort and the underground DJ Paulo & Alain Jackinsky Collaboration Mix is absolutely killer!

Many of you out there just can't get enough of Rihanna and so in an effort to feed your addiction her Def Jam record label recently released Good Girl Gone Bad ­ The Remixes. This dance remixed version of the Grammy winner's Good Girl Gone Bad album includes edit remixes by The Wideboys, Tony Moran & Warren Rigg, Moto Blanco, Jody den Broeder, and Soul Seekerz.

Finally, there's a cool ass duo (Holly and the openly gay Ara) out of Los Angeles called MYNX that you absolutely do not want to miss out on. With a musical style that's compared to Garbage (as in the group, not as in trash) the pair bring up "imagery of an electro rebirth of Sonny & Cher meets Goldfrapp." MYNX's new self-titled 5-track EP, featuring their underground cult hit "I'm So L.A.," is filled with punchy lyrics, infectious hooks, and fierce vocals that are destined to broaden their appeal beyond the California state line.

"Most POPular"
If you weren't paying attention to the clubbing calendar recently, then you may have missed the "Be The Next POPular DJ" Contest that was held in Chicago. Sponsored by BOI, MTM Chicago and Centaur Music/Entertainment, the Windy City competition had 14 DJs competing at three different venues for the ultimate opportunity to mix and record Centaur's next POPular compilation CD. Using a scoring method similar to TV's Dancing With The Stars, the winner of the three local contests were determined via a combination of judges' scoring and crowd response.

The first contest was held on Wednesday, March 18 at @mosphere and featured DJ Veritas, DJR, DJ Jerry Griffith, DJ M, and DJ Chris MD. In front of a crowd that was feeling no pain ­ it was 50 cent well drink night after all ­ Hydrate's newest resident, DJR, came out victorious and took home a gift basket with more than $250 worth of goodies.

Two nights later at Jackhammer, the competition was uber-intense as four very well known Chicago DJs ­ Timmy Loop, Jim Lewis, Brett Locascio and Phil DaBeatz ­ squared off against each other. This contest was indeed a tight one with Minibar's Phil DaBeatz taking home the gift basket.

The final contest took place on Sunday, March 22, at Hydrate with DJs Ron G, Tony P, Enrique, Chris Spinazzola, and Peter Canellis twisting the DJ booth knobs to maximum effect. Despite a wide range of musical and DJing styles that were presented, the tally sheet had DJ Ron G (who's normally found in Hunters' DJ booth on Wednesdays) racking up the most points, resulting in a smile as bright and as wide as DJR and Phil DaBeatz.

So who will be declared the Grand Prize winner of Chicago's "Be The Next POPular DJ" Contest? Well, that decision will be made independently and solely by the powers that be at Centaur who will evaluate all 14 contestants' application packages and demo CDs. While the 3 Chicago contest winners will get extra consideration, the actual winner ­ which will be announced in the next issue of BOI - could be any of them. Stay tuned!!!