Category — News

A lot of artists are performing in support of Obama, the list keeps growing but includes Bruce Springsteen, Vampire Weekend, The National, The Breeders and many more.

Now I know that Jay-Z is a hip-hop artist and not really guitar-centric in any way. However, he did come on stage as the headliner of Glastonbury 2008 with a Fender guitar over his shoulder, which he used to make fun of Oasis with. Also, I think its really cool that he’s doing these free shows, because not only does it give people a fun evening, but younger fans of his are more likely to listen to Jay-Z than anyone else when it comes to voting.

The free concerts will be taking place in Detroit, MI and Miami, FL.

Ticket info for the shows:

(October 4th) Detroit MI, Cobo Arena

(October 5th) Miami, FL Bayfront Park Amphitheater

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A while ago we posted about a song Jack White wrote for the new James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace.” This wasn’t a big deal to people, the fact that Coca-Cola (a sponsor of the movie) began using the song in ads, really pissed people off though.

Now, as well as doing an instrumental score for the film, Jack White and Alicia Keys have appeared in a video together for “Another Way To Die” a promotional song for the movie. Stereogum has the video up at their site, for your viewing pleasure. You’d be hard pressed to find something in the video that isn’t CG, but whatever, its for a James Bond movie. As for the song, well it’s kind of blah.

This is dangerous territory though, I remember back when Chris Cornell did a song for a James Bond movie. That didn’t really turn out too good, and now the former bad-ass frontman of Soundgarden is doing R&B tracks with Timbaland and coaching American Idol contestants. Makes you wonder how long before Jack White goes down this route, maybe he already is. At least he’s rocking a guitar in the video…

Lately, the internet has been abuzz with rumors of a Led Zeppelin reunion tour and possibly an album. The rumors seemed to suggest that the reunion lineup would include vocalist Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham (John Bonham’s son).

Now, Robert Plant (via his website) has spoken out about the rumors, stating that he “has no intention whatsoever of touring with anyone for at least the next two years.”

Since Led Zeppelin reunited for a show at London’s 02 Arena there have been rumors that they would do a tour, with or without Robert Plant, if they found that he didn’t want to participate. This appears to be untrue, although it is worth noting that he mentions he has no intention of “touring with anyone for at least the next two years.” So does this mean there is a possibility in two years? We know he has been very busy with Alison Krauss, and has gotten critical acclaim for their recent release. Only time will tell I guess.

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I guess now that they’ve finished recording their new album Death Magnetic, Metallica has a little bit of extra time on their hands. Which could only mean one thing…time for a lawsuit! Turns out Metallica has filed suit against Fernandes Guitars over the use of Robert Trujillo’s likeness in their advertisements. But here’s the best part…Trujillo actually signed a deal that gave them permission! However now that he is part of Metallicorp, the deal cause a conflict of interest due to Metallica’s own deal with ESP guitars.

According to this blog, the band sent a cease and desist letter to Fernandes Guitars to stop using Trujillo’s likeness. This whole thing seems pretty ridiculous and I’d be pretty surprised if this went anywhere. But then again, this is Metallica. They are pretty big cry babies if you ask me. I wonder what kind of strain this is putting between Robert and the band.

So you’ve probably heard the rumors/news swarming the net about Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy. Supposedly, the long-awaited album will be released exclusively through Best Buy on November 25th. And supposedly their song “IF The World” will be featured in the end credits of Body of Lies, the new Ridley Scott movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which comes out next month. Yup, that’s about it.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Really? That’s all you’re gonna give me? I just want to know the truth!” And I would have to reply that I agree. Perhaps all of these “rumors” being spread is just part of a huge marketing plan for an album that may not even be released in our lifetime and (I hate to say it) will probably not live up to all of the hype. (And therefore makes me feel as though simply by posting this blog, I might be just one of the wheels turning in the machine of Axl’s master plot to rule the world). But seriously, with hair like that, it’s not like you have to try hard to get people begging at your feet, right?

So let’s recap here. You begin reading the article to find out news about the Chinese Democracy’s release. And you end the article feeling a strange onset of widespread paranoia that has in turn led you to a wild frenzied search of youtube videos and 911 conspiracy theories. My job here is done.

Yesterday (Sept 24th), Aerosmith front-man Steven Tyler sued bloggers for impersonating him on the web. Among other things the bloggers wrote intimate details about his life, including the death of his mother.

“In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, Tyler, 60, said he didn’t know the real names of those who have impersonated him and girlfriend Erin Brady on the Web, but he believes the same group was responsible for similar postings in 2007.

At that time, Tyler asked Google to remove the blogs, and the Internet company complied. “The impersonated statements relating to (Tyler’s) mother are perhaps most hurtful given that she recently passed away,” the lawsuit stated.”

This is really not cool. I know people in the blog community already don’t appreciate sock puppets, but to impersonate someone famous and write details about the passing of their loved ones is pretty ridiculous. I don’t really see what the authors or the readers of the blog would gain from it. Maybe they thought it was funny? Probably not anymore though.

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Weezer’s, Drummer Patrick Wilson, says the band will be heading back to the studio to record their seventh studio album this November. They plan to work a Jacknife Lee, a producer who worked on a few tracks from the Red Album, including “Troublemaker” and “Pork and Beans.” Wilson says they have already begun working on songs, sending everything they come up with to Lee. Sounds like they must be working on some new songs, though according to Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, “some will be covers, others will be previously released Weezer tracks.

“We might do them acoustically or with an orchestra,” he said. “I’m thinking about something like ‘Slave’ or ‘December’ from Maladroit and maybe some old songs. I see us doing heavy versions of emotional songs.”

While some people might be annoyed that they would release older songs on a supposedly new album, I think it actually sounds interesting. Perhaps a reinterpretation of their better material would be more worthy listening material than just another cookie cutter single.

As for the album title, apparently Pat Wilson is a fan of doing it rainbow style, admitting, “if I had my way, we would just use colors from now on, then we wouldn’t have to think about titles. We must’ve had a hundred titles for the (’Red’) record, and none of them felt right so we just gave up and said, ‘OK, let’s just make a color.” Hopefully with the time they gain from not thinking too hard about album titles, they can think harder about how they can write a decent song (a.k.a how much they have to pay to make Matt Sharp re-join the band).

The Smashing Pumpkins are gearing up to release a double-disc DVD set entitled “If All Goes Wrong” on November 11th.

According to pitchforkmedia…”The first disc features the titular documentary, which chronicles the band’s reunion and live residencies in San Francisco and Asheville, North Carolina last year through interviews with band members, fans, journalists, and other musicians. Also on the disc: a featurette about Pumpkins fans called Voices of the Ghost Children and, inexplicably, an interview with the Who’s Pete Townshend.”

The 2nd disc features “The Fillmore Residency”, performances from the bands residency at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The 2nd disc also contains 5 bonus tracks from the Fillmore performances.

This seems like the perfect Christmas gift for Smashing Pumpkins fans. It is obvious at this point that former members James Iha and D’Arcy refused Billy Corgan’s reunion offer. To me, having them on board is what would truly have made it a Smashing Pumpkins reunion.

According to his spokesman, Richard Wright, a founding member and keyboardist of Pink Floyd, died yesterday at the age of 65 after a short battle with cancer.

Wright not only played keyboards in the band, but also wrote and sang several songs from their most popular albums during the mid-70’s, such as “Dark Side of the Moon “ and Wish You Were Here.” Some of he better-known songs include “The Great Gig In The Sky,” and “Us And Them.”

David Gilmour, Pink Floyd’s guitarist and singer, referred to Wright as “gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound.

“Like Rick, I don’t find it easy to express my feelings in words, but I loved him and will miss him enormously. I have never played with anyone quite like him,” he said.

Gilmour goes on to express his belief that Pink Floyd’s greatest moments were with Wright “in full force.”

Richard Wright’s death comes just two years after Syd Barrett, the founding member and former singer and guitarist of Pink Floyd. Since that time, many tributes have popped up in his honor, such as the upcoming album Like Black Holes In The Sky: The Tribute to Syd Barrett, which includes bands like Jesu Kylesa and can be streamed in full on myspace. I’m sure it is only a matter of time before we see similar tributes to Wright.

Dischord Records founder and Fugazi frontman Ian MacKaye participated in a debate/discussion with Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore at the Brooklyn Book Fair, yesterday. According to Billboard.com MacKaye and Moore discussed issues ranging from advertising and record sales to a packed audience. An excerpt from Billboard’s piece on the discussion…

“In response to the moderator’s use of the word “Google” as a verb, MacKaye began the panel with a rant about the danger of language being a branded commodity. He then discussed his band’s now-legendary $5 cover policy, saying that there are always ways for the music industry to be more efficient. At the same time, he encouraged the audience to support artists by buying their music and seeing their shows.”

“Finally, the pair addressed the hot-button issue of indie bands associating with brands. MacKaye claimed the notion that working with brands was the only way to expose music is a conceit created by advertisers, and that all bands have a choice as to whether or not to sell their songs.”

This event seems like it would’ve been really cool to attend, it doesn’t say whether or not the audience got a Q&A type setup with MacKaye or Moore but one would expect something like that to occur. It would be great to see a video or hear audio of the event, if I find out its been posted somewhere I will definitely re-post that here.