Nov 1

OutKast may animate Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg
[source: NME.com] Outkast's Andre 3000 has said Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg and bandmate Big Boi may feature in his new animated TV show.
Class Of 3000 makes its debut in the US on Friday November 3 on the Cartoon Network.
"We'll probably get different artists," Andre 3000 said of the show's music. "So you may have Big Boi stop through the classroom and he may do a song with the kids, or you may have Gwen Stefani do a song, or Snoop. But they'll be animated in our style."
Andre 3000, one of the cartoon's executive producers, said every episode would feature new music.
"The episode or the situation dictates what the song's going to be like, even the instrumentation. So I'm writing from, I guess, a character's standpoint."
The star said it was important to remember who would be watching the show.
"Even though the music can go anywhere," he said, "and the music could be advanced, I have to still remember that these are kids. I have to write in a certain way [so] the kids get it and [so] the voice actors can come in and kind of mimic what I'm doing."
Speaking about his character on the show – art teacher Sunny – Andre told The Patriot News that he didn't see himself rapping forever.
"I always thought rap was a young man's game. And the older I get I'm like, 'Okay, I don't want to be 45 years old and rapping'. So I thought maybe it would be cool if I go back to school and actually be an art teacher. That was my love before I started doing music – drawing and painting."

Outkast: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501539
Stefani: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3507929
Snoop: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501761

Ash tell all about new album
[source: NME.com] Ash bassist Mark Hamilton has spoken exclusively to NME about the band's forthcoming album, due for release next year.
Recorded in the band's Manhattan studio, Ash have put down 14 songs, with plans to record "a few more" before choosing the final tracklisting.
With elements of Bob Dylan, Beck and even Motown influences, Hamilton said several songs hark back to debut album 1977.
Hamilton likened potential album opener "Girl Who Can't Be Owned" to "a Foo Fighters track with a Dylan-esque melody", while "Suicide Girls" is apparently more in the vein of "earlier, classic Ash". "Shadows", he said, is "a slower number with a bit of a retro vibe".
"The bass line [in "Shadows"] is a bit of Motown in the verses and it's got pretty heavy lyrics about the effects of breaking up," he said.
Meanwhile, "Polaris" was written at a very famous band's villa.
"Tim [Wheeler, frontman] wrote the main hook line on a piano at U2's villa in the south of France. The original dictaphone recording is also used in the intro of the track. There's an underlining U2 vibe to the song.
"There's quite a mash of styles, instruments and samples on 'End Of The World', which gives it a Flaming Lips or Beck feel.
"'What Is The Meaning?' is a pretty straight-up punk rock track with personal and dramatic vocals. Tim sings in a state of confusion, asking for answers to what is going on in his life. It's kind of autobiographical."
According to Hamilton, the tracks are still developing and they won't all make the album. So far, however, they've recorded "Girl Who Can't Be Owned", "Suicide Girls", "Shadows", "Roulette", "Princess Six", "Polaris", "Dark And Stormy", "You Can't Have It All", "End Of The World", "Blacklisted", "Shattered Glass", "Saskia", "What Is The Meaning?" and "In Hell".

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502173


The Bravery and The Killers end feud
[source: NME.com] The Bravery have buried the hatchet with The Killers following a recent apology from the Las Vegas band's singer, Brandon Flowers.
The Bravery, who will release second album The Sun And The Moon in 2007, were subjected to a series of taunts from Flowers last year. But Bravery singer Sam Endicott told NME that Flowers called him out of the blue and apologised.
"I was in an airport and I didn't believe it was him for, like, ten minutes. He said, 'I'm really sorry. I'm a jealous person and I was jerk. I'm sorry'. And I respect him for it, you know. It's a hard thing to do, apologise like that."
The Bravery are set to resume their live shows with a South American tour next month. They're also planning a select number of secret shows in the US.
"On our next tour, we're going to be doing smaller shows – multiple nights in smaller venues. That's what it's about: playing a rock show and having a good time, and the crowd and all that," the singer said. "It's not about all the other extraneous bullshit."

The Bravery: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3519990
The Killers: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503713


Sonic Youth confirm album tracklisting
[source: NME.com] Sonic Youth have confirmed the tracklisting for forthcoming album The Destroyed Room: B-Sides And Rarities.
The compilation, out on December 11, will contain songs from 1991 to 2003 and will be the last Sonic Youth album released on the Geffen label.

Tracklisting:

"Fire Engine Dream" (2003, previously unreleased Sonic Nurse outtake)
"Fauxhemians" (2001, from the Noho Furniture Sessions and the All Tomorrow's Parties 1.1 compilation)
"Is It My Body?" (1991, from the 2 x 7" Alice Cooper Tribute)
"Razor Blade" (1994, B-side from the "Bull In The Heather" single)
"Blink" (1999, from the Pola X soundtrack)
"Campfire" (2000, from the At Home With The Groovebox compilation)
"Loop Cat" (2003, Japanese bonus track from Sonic Nurse)
"Kim's Chords" (2003, Japanese bonus track from Sonic Nurse)
"Beautiful Plateau" (2003, Japanese bonus track from Sonic Nurse)
"Three Part Sectional Love Seat" (2001, previously unreleased track from the Noho Furniture Sessions)
"Queen Anne Chair" (2001, previously unreleased track from the Noho Furniture Sessions)
"The Diamond Sea" (1995, LP version with alternative ending, B-side from "The Diamond Sea" single)

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Liam Gallagher disses UK rockers
Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has lashed out at his fellow UK rockers, including Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty and Keane frontman Tom Chaplin, in an engaging interview in UK tabloid The Sun.
"That Pete Doherty is cabbaged already," he snarled. "And it's like, 'How old are you? Priory at 27 years of age? You idiot'."
The 34-year-old singer claimed today's rock stars lack the same partying stamina he and his bandmates possess.
"Posh boys can't take drugs – they're lightweights," he sneered. "None of us have ever been in the Priory, like all these little idiots today. They have one little line, they have one burn and they're all in rehab."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500110

Jet head home
With new, platinum-selling album Shine On at the top of the ARIA charts, Melbourne four-piece Jet have announced a quick trip back to Australia next month to coincide with forthcoming single "Rip It Up".
The band – who've been forced to cancel overseas shows in recent weeks due to singer Nic Cester's throat problems – will visit Sydney and Melbourne from Friday November 17 to Saturday November 24 on a promo tour that will include a special all-ages concert for Triple J on Sunday November 19 at a still-secret location.
"Rip It Up" hits stores Saturday November 18.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501552


Kylie Minogue takes on Vogue
Kylie Minogue is preparing to launch the Australian leg of the Showgirl world tour, which was delayed after she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. But the pint-sized singer has also been busy recently in the role of guest editor for Australian Vogue magazine.
In next month's Vogue, cover star Minogue will reveal the impact cancer has had on her life.
"My whole world changed. I have learned and experienced so much about myself and others," she writes. "It's great to be able to make those first steps back into the life I knew before, the one I now know better."
Inside the magazine, Kylie models clothes by designers such as Chanel and Dolce E Gabbana.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501554

Rob Thomas launches record label
Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas has established a record label with one of his best friends and publishers. R Tel Records has already signed three acts, including Fort Worth singer Hodges, who Thomas met while searching for support acts for a show in Portland, Oregon.
Fans can also expect a new solo LP from Thomas in 2007 and an exclusive track in an upcoming Disney movie.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3517768

Oct 31

Green Day in court case
[source: NME.com] Green Day have been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over the title track of their massive-selling 2004 album American Idiot.
Paul McPike from Oregon filed a two-page complaint in the US District Court, which claimed he wrote the lyrics and melodies to the song in 1992. He submitted a copy of "American Idiot" as evidence and claimed the words Green Day vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong sings on the album don't match those printed in the liner notes.
McPike told Oregon's Mail Tribune paper he was "in disbelief" every time he heard the song on the radio. He also said he had written several letters to the band and their label, but never received a reply to his allegations.
McPike is seeking an unspecified share of the profits from the 2004 album and 2005's DVD/CD package, Bullet In A Bible.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501383

Jack White joins The Rolling Stones
[source: NME.com] White Stripes frontman Jack White, Christina Aguilera and Buddy Guy all joined The Rolling Stones onstage at their New York City theatre show on Monday night.
White joined Mick Jagger on vocals for a version of "Loving Cup" from the classic Exile On Main Street album, while Aguilera sang a version of "Live With Me" from Let It Bleed. Guitar legend Buddy Guy joined the Stones for blues classic "Champagne & Reefer".

Set list:

"Start Me Up"
"Shattered"
"She Was Hot"
"All Down The Line"
"Loving Cup"
"As Tears Go By"
"I'm Free"
"Undercover Of The Night"
"(Just My) Imagination"
"Shine A Light"
"Champagne & Reefer"
"Tumbling Dice"
"You Got The Silver"
"Little T&A"
"Sympathy For The Devil"
"Live With Me"
"Paint It Black"
"Jumping Jack Flash"
"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502061


Scissor Sisters to webcast Halloween gig
[source: NME.com] Scissor Sisters will broadcast their Halloween gig at London's Brixton Academy. The gig, which takes place on Tuesday October 31 (Wednesday morning in Australia), will go live on Global-Cool.com.
To watch, fans have to log on to the site and make a pledge to reduce their carbon emissions. Then, not only will they be able to see highlights of the performance, but they'll gain access to footage of the band preparing backstage for the gig.
"This special gig is a big thank you to all our fans," Scissor Sisters guitarist Babydaddy said. "By showing the gig on Global-cool.com it means not only that everyone can enjoy the party, but it also raises awareness of [Global Cool's] cause by highlighting the importance of saving our planet."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503361

Beck plays secret show in New York
[source: NME.com] Late last week, Beck capped a string of New York shows in increasingly smaller venues with a secret gig at the tiny Knitting Factory.
The star and his band delivered an hour-long set at the Manhattan venue on Thursday October 26.
Following a DJ turn by Roots drummer ?uestlove, Beck took to the stage wearing a battered fedora and blazer. He barely spoke, except to take requests (including "Beercan" from 1994 breakthrough album Mellow Gold).
The plugged-in party set was in ragged contrast to the pop troubadour's acoustic performance last Sunday at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, a majestic former synagogue. Other New York stops included the Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Loews cinema in Jersey City, and MTV's Woodie Awards at Roseland Ballroom.

Beck: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501525
Roots: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503235

Ian Rilen loses cancer battle
One of the most colourful rockers in Australian music lost his fight with bladder cancer yesterday and died surrounded by family and friends.
Ian Rilen, 58, was a founding member of Rose Tattoo and most famous for writing the band's hit track "Bad Boy For Love". His post-Tattoo outfit, X, were also renowned for their scathing, frenetic live shows.
Supporters such as Hoodoo Gurus, Paul Kelly, Chrissie Amphlett and Tim Rogers & The Temperance Union had recently gathered at Melbourne's Corner Hotel to perform two benefit gigs for Rilen, who was due to play at the annual Meredith Music Festival in early December.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3522660

US hall of fame inductees announced
Nine artists are vying for five remaining spots in the 2007 USA Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Candidates, who must have released their first singles no later than 1981 to be eligible, include R.E.M., Van Halen, The Stooges, Dave Clark Five, Chic, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, Joe Tex & The Ronettes and Patti Smith.
The final five will be honoured at a ceremony held on Monday March 12 at New York City's Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Heavy rockers Black Sabbath, English punks Sex Pistols, guitar outfit Lynyrd Skynyrd, New York pop group Blondie and jazz artist Miles Davis were all inducted into the hall of fame earlier this year.

R.E.M.: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501599
Van Halen: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500337
The Stooges: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3538867
Patti Smith: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3504112


Sebastian Bach loves Chinese Democracy
It's been in the making for a decade but Guns N' Roses fans can finally prepare for the release of the band's new LP, Chinese Democracy.
And according to former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach – who's on tour with the Gunners, and heard the album at Axl Rose's Malibu mansion – it's "mind-blowing".
"It's a very cool album," Bach revealed. "It's bad-ass, with killer screams, killer guitar riffs [and] a totally modern sound. The word for it is 'grand'. It's f***ing epic. [Axl] has reinvented himself yet again."
Rumours suggest the album will be released in late November.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=350271

Grateful Dead bassist battles cancer
Former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh has revealed he will undergo surgery in December for prostate cancer.
"Since we've caught it very early and it's small and slow-growing, I fully expect to have a rapid and complete recovery," the 66-year-old said in a statement on his website.
Lesh, who underwent a liver transplant in 1998, said the cancer was discovered at a recent medical check.
"I am feeling energetic as always," he said, "and all my scheduled appearances will occur as planned."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3507169

Oct 30

Kanye West to play special show
[source: NME.com] Kanye West will play a one-off live show in Hong Kong on Tuesday November 28. The American rapper will appear at new outdoor venue Hong Kong Drive as part of his Touch The Sky tour.
Meanwhile, West is one of the featured guests on the new Jay-Z album, Kingdom Come, due for release on Monday November 20.
Also, West's "Gold Digger" (which features a classic Ray Charles sample) has been covered by The Automatic and will appear as a B-side on their new single, "Raoul" (out Monday November 27).
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502759

Marilyn Manson to launch US art gallery
[source: NME.com] Marilyn Manson will launch his own art gallery in Los Angeles on Tuesday October 31.
The Celebritarian Corporation Gallery Of Fine Art will open at 667 Melrose with an exhibition of the shock-rocker's famous watercolours.
To mark the opening, Manson will make his first appearance on a late-night variety show by performing new track "This Is Halloween" on The Late Show. The song is taken from the soundtrack to the new 3D version of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502742

50 Cent copyright claim dismissed
[source: NME.com] A judge at Miami's Federal Court has dismissed a copyright case concerning 50 Cent's "In Da Club".
2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell claimed Fiddy stole the opening line of "In Da Club" from his own "It's Your Birthday".
However, late last week judge Paul Huck ruled Campbell's line – "Go Shelia, it's your birthday" – was a "common, unoriginal and non copyrightable element of the song" and therefore not entitled to protection. He added that no reasonable jury would infer otherwise and said no one would get the two songs confused.
The original lawsuit was filed in January by attorney Richard Wolfe on behalf of Lil' Joe Wein Music, the company that holds the copyright to "It's Your Birthday".
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502576

Nirvana music to feature on TV show
[source: NME.com] Nirvana's songs are set to feature in episodes of US crime show CSI: Miami.
The CSI franchise, known for its use of The Who songs, will feature four of the Seattle band's tracks.
The soundtrack licensing deal came about when Kurt Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, sold a 25 per cent stake in Nirvana's song catalogue to Primary Wave Music Publishing.
"We believe if we say yes to the right things, we can do both – make money and do the right thing for the catalogue," Love's manager, Peter Asher, said.
An episode of CSI: Miami due to air in November will feature several Nirvana tunes, with "Come As You Are" most prominent.
According to Forbes, the only condition Primary Wave set was that the CSI: Miami episode not feature any suicide or drug-addiction themes. Instead, the episode is about evil military recruiters.
Speaking about the future use of Nirvana songs, Primary Wave chief executive Lawrence Mestel said Kurt Cobain's music would never appear in advertisements for products like fast-food hamburgers.
"We're looking at things that relate to cutting-edge technologies, products that are green and eco-friendly, products that Kurt would have liked to have his music represented by."
Previously, "All Apologies" had been used in an episode of Six Feet Under and "Something In The Way" appeared in 2005 film Jarhead.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502764


2006 ARIA celebrations
There are plenty of sore heads in Sydney today, as the biggest evening of the local music industry – the 2006 ARIA Awards – took place last night at Acer Arena, Homebush.
The ceremony featured a swag of top performances, including Eskimo Joe (Best Music DVD and Single Of The Year), Pete Murray (who performed with US songwriter John Mayer), Wolfmother (Best Group, Breakthrough Artist – Album, and Best Rock Album), The Veronicas (Best Pop Release) and an impassioned Silverchair, who helped induct Midnight Oil into the Hall Of Fame with a cover of Oils hit "I Don't Wanna Be The One". Frontman Daniel Johns took to the stage to spray-paint "PG 4 PM" and, while the band didn't respond to the sentiment, they did take record labels to task for their reality TV style-over-substance signings.
Highlights included excited wins by Adelaide trio Hilltop Hoods, a drunken ramble from Jackass star Johnny Knoxville and a winning performance from Best Male Artist Bernard Fanning, who took to the stage alongside Kasey Chambers and fellow winner Clare Bowditch (Best Female Artist).

2006 ARIA winners:

Album Of The Year: Bernard Fanning – Tea And Sympathy
Best Group: Wolfmother – Wolfmother
Best Male Artist: Bernard Fanning – Tea And Sympathy
Best Female Artist: Clare Bowditch – What Was Left
Single Of The Year: Eskimo Joe – "Black Fingernails, Red Wine"
Best Pop Release: The Veronicas – The Secret Life Of…
Best Independent Release: Hilltop Hoods – The Hard Road
Best Urban Release: Hilltop Hoods – The Hard Road
Best Comedy Release: Lano & Woodley – Sing Songs
Best Country Album: Troy Cassar-Daley – Brighter Day
Breakthrough Artist – Single: Youth Group – "Forever Young"
Breakthrough Artist – Album: Wolfmother – Wolfmother
Best Blues & Roots Album: The Audreys – Between Last Night And Us
Best Children's Album: The Wiggles – Racing To The Rainbow
Best Dance Release: TV Rock (featuring Seany B) – "Flaunt It"
Highest Selling Single: TV Rock (featuring Seany B) – "Flaunt It"
Highest Selling Album: Human Nature – Reach Out: The Motown Album
Best Music DVD: Eskimo Joe – Eskimo Joe, The DVD
Best Rock Album: Wolfmother – Wolfmother
Best Adult Contemporary Artist: Bob Evans – Suburban Songbook
Hall Of Fame: Midnight Oil

Dixie Chicks documentary stirs controversy
A documentary about the Dixie Chicks is sparking controversy in the States, with the film's distributors issuing a press release accusing major television networks of refusing to accept TV commercials.
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing revolves around the political troubles stirred up in 2003 when singer Natalie Maines said during a London concert that the trio were "ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas".
In the press release, the Weinstein Co. claimed TV network NBC rejected a spot for the ad because it included material that "disparages President Bush".
"It's a sad commentary about the level of fear in our society," Harvey Weinstein, co-chairman of the Weinstein Co, said, "that a movie about a group of courageous entertainers who were blacklisted for exercising their right of free speech is now itself being blacklisted by corporate America."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500011

US churches inspired by U2
Reverend Paige Blair, an Episcopal priest in York Harbor, Maine, has created a communion service based on the music of Irish rock stars U2.
The U2Charist – named after the band and the Eucharist communion – mixes U2 tracks with slides and begins with "Pride (In the Name Of Love)". "Bach and Handel were the popular music of their day and they had trouble getting played in church," Reverend Blair said. "Are we worshiping Bono? Absolutely not. No more so than we worship Martin Luther when we sing 'A Mighty Fortress Is Our God'."
Images used throughout the service include those of Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, with the service held in 150 churches across 15 states.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3504356

Hanson reveal label struggle
Hanson shot to fame as teenagers in the 90s with the catchy "Mmm Bop", but now the sibling pop trio are giving fans an insight into the struggles of maintaining a career in the US music business.
Strong Enough To Break is a documentary that captures the brothers recording 2004 LP Underneath. Taylor, Isaac and Zac Hanson spent three years struggling with their label, Island/Def Jam, eventually leaving in order to release the album independently (the record went on to sell more than 137,000 copies in the US).
"People aren't really aware of what's going on, and they're not used to seeing it so in-depth, like when we're on the phone with the A&R guy, saying, 'We don't want to work with this producer'," Zac Hanson said.
"The film is important, not because it's about Hanson – who cares, we're just one more band – but because there are so many similar stories, like what happened to Fiona Apple and Wilco. It's sort of the norm."
Meanwhile, Zac revealed the band are currently working on the release of new album The Walk.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503710

Oct 27 news

Bob Marley gets heritage plaque
[source: NME.com] Bob Marley has been honoured with a heritage plaque at his former home at 34 Ridgmount Gardens, Camden, London.
The event took place as part of Black History Month, a series of events recognising the contribution of African-Caribbean communities in London. Marley lived at Ridgmount Gardens in 1972 when he first arrived in England.
Endorsed by Mayor Ken Livingstone in partnership with the Nubian Jak Community Trust, it is the first heritage plaque to be unveiled since Livingstone came into office in 2000.
Nubian Jak spokesman Jak Buela told the BBC that although Marley lived in several London homes, the Camden address was most significant as it was "where it all started".

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502565


Blur artwork sells for more than £60,000
[source: NME.com] The artwork for Blur's Think Tank album of 2003 was sold yesterday at Bonham's Auction House in London for £62,400.
The painting was created by cult artist Banksy and reached ten times its estimated price.
"I'm delighted to purchase this particular work from the Think Tank group of works by Banksy," the anonymous buyer said. "This work will remain in a private collection of pop art here in England."
Banksy was recently involved in sabotaging copies of Paris Hilton's debut album.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501548


The Cure prepare live DVD
[source: NME.com] The Cure have announced plans to release a special live DVD shot by the band, fans and the road crew.
Festival 2005, due for release next month, will chart the band's journey to nine festivals throughout Europe and feature up to 30 tracks, including "Fascination Street", "Never Enough", "Just Live Heaven", "In Between Days", A Forest", "Disintegration" and "Faith".

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502380


Keane in gig drama
[source: NME.com] Keane's show at The Brighton Centre yesterday was thrown into chaos when a lighting rig crashed onto the stage.
The band had been onstage for 80 minutes and were about to start an encore when the equipment fell behind the stage. The venue was immediately evacuated.
"They started the encore and they had a big lighting rig on a stand, which was lifted up into the gantry," an audience member told Thisisfakediy. "It got caught on another bit of equipment and it fell over down the back of the stage.
"No one got squashed or anything, but the band left the stage and an announcement was made saying everyone had to leave immediately due to health and safety."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503275


Go-Between Robert Forster wins award… for music writing
Brisbane musician Robert Forster has won a $15,000 music journalism prize. The former Go-Betweens frontman (the group dissolved earlier this year after Grant McLennan's death) was awarded the Pascall Prize for criticism for his work in The Monthly, a magazine established in 2005.
"Robert Forster is one of those rare critics so possessed of both charm and intellectual clarity that his work can be read with pleasure (and instruction) by people who are not especially interested in his subject," the judges wrote.
"It's obviously good for the soul and the heart," Foster said of the award. "I've never seen this great division between rock journalists or rock critics and musicians."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502301


Madonna defends adoption
Pop icon Madonna has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to defend her decision to adopt one-year-old David Banda, who she met when travelling to the African country of Malawi.
"As far as I'm concerned, the adoption laws have to be changed to suit that state of emergency," the singer, who often appearing close to tears, said.
"I think if everybody went there, they'd want to bring one of those children home with them and give them a better life."
Madonna said she was shocked at the coverage the media had given the decision and believed the boy's father, Yohane Banda, had been bullied by reporters and had words put into his mouth.
"I sat in that room, I looked into that man's eyes," she said. "I believe… he's been terrorised by the media. They have asked him things, repeatedly, and they have put words in his mouth. They have spun a story that is completely false."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3534378


Sonic Youth leave label
This December, New York art-rock legends Sonic Youth will release one last album on Geffen, the label they've called home since 1990.
The Destroyed Room: B-Sides And Rarities has been assembled by guitarist Lee Ranaldo and contains tracks from vinyl singles, compilations and international releases, as well as previously unheard material.
"I don't really think they [Geffen] want us to stay," bass player Kim Gordon said at the premier of her new film, Perfect Partner, a road movie about the text in car commercials.
"They fired a few key people working on [this year's album, Rather Ripped] a week before it came out, so I don't know."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502709


Duran Duran lose band member
Stars of the 80s pop scene, UK five-piece Duran Duran, have announced their reunion is over.
Guitarist Andy Taylor is again leaving the band – something he first did 21 years ago.
"The past five years have been an incredible journey for us all," a posting on the band's MySpace page read, "and having the original five back together was something that we had wanted to see happen for some time. As of last weekend, however, the four of us have dissolved our partnership and will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together."
There's no word on who Simon Le Bon and co will ask to fill the spot.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501798

Newsletter

Suburban Mayhem – Various Artists
The soundtrack to new Australian indie flick Suburban Mayhem features a blistering line-up of rock acts, including new vocal performances by Magic Dirt's Adalita and a score composed and produced by Aussie legend Mick Harvey (The Bad Seeds). The soundtrack also boasts tracks from Little Birdy, The Spazzys, Your Wedding Night, Bird Blobs, Theredsunband, Suzi Quatro and Billy Childish.

My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
The follow-up to 2004's platinum debut Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is, according to singer Gerard way, "more dramatic, way more theatrical, completely over the top, borderline psychotic". "It's the most pure, intense thing we've ever been involved in," he said. Produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day), the album is a celebration of love, death and darkness.

Meat Loaf – Bat Out Of Hell III
The long-awaited third instalment of the most successful rock music series of all time has arrived. The previous albums have sold a staggering 45 million copies around the world and now Bat Out of Hell III continues the epic story, with contributions from Steinman and Rundgren, and production from hit-maker Desmond Child.

John Legend – Once Again
Kanye West protégé John Legend returns with his second album, Once Again. With an all-star line-up of producers, writers, and guests, the album is sure to build on the amazing talent Legend displayed on his sparkling debut.

Mercury Rev – Stillness Breathes: The Essential Mercury Rev 1991-2006
This is the first greatest hits collection from American indie-rock outfit Mercury Rev. Collating tracks from the band's entire back catalogue, the album includes the feedback drenched psychedelics of their early work through to the blissful orchestral indie-rock that dominated 2005's The Secret Migration.

Sting – Songs From The Labyrinth
Songs From The Labyrinth is an album of 17th-century music composed by John Dowland and performed on the lute, an ancient acoustic guitar. All songs were written by Dowland almost 400 years ago, but Sting has breathed new life into them with these beautiful modern recordings.

BigPond Music TV [this goes in the slot were Dual Downloads went last week]
Tired of the same old music TV shows? Try BigPond Music TV, bringing you non-stop exclusive live performances and videos from the best bands around. Music TV just got good.

Oct 26

Kurt Cobain tops dead rich list
[source: NME.com] Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was the highest earning dead celebrity last year.
The grunge icon's earnings amounted to $50 million between October 2005 and October 2006, according to business website Forbes.com. Elvis Presley came in at number two with $42 million, down from last year's $45 million.
It was the first time Cobain had made the list in its six years of publication, CNN reported. He has his widow, Courtney Love, to thank after she sold a 25 per cent stake in his song catalogue to New York music publishing company PrimeWave.
The list's top five looked like this: 1) Kurt Cobain, 2) Elvis Presley, 3) Charles Schulz, 4) John Lennon, 5) Albert Einstein.

Nirvana: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502764
Elivs: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501580
John Lennon: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3538005

My Chemical Romance get Madonna's help
[source: NME.com] My Chemical Romance have credited Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, with convincing Liza Minnelli to appear on the band's new album.
The band were searching for a female vocalist for The Black Parade's "Mama" and told producer Rob Cavallo the Oscar-winning actress was top of their list.
"We have discussed [having] a woman but then I eventually just did the woman's voice," singer Gerard Way said. "I was like, 'It just seems like such a cop out'.
"He [Cavallo] said, 'Well, who do you want to get?', and I was like, 'We should get Liza Minnelli'.
"[Cavallo] called Liz Rosenberg, who is her publicist, and got her to do it."

Liza Minnelli: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501636
Madonna: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3534378
My Chemical: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3504306

US rapper on probation
[source: NME.com] US rapper Foxy Brown has been sentenced to three years' probation for assaulting two New York nail salon workers.
Brown attempted to withdraw her earlier guilty plea, claiming she had felt rushed at the time, but the judge yesterday ruled the plea agreement was valid.
Brown kicked and punched the employees during a dispute over payment for a pedicure and manicure at a New York salon in August 2004.
She was nearly threatened with jail after failing to turn up to court on Monday. Brown pleaded guilty in August, but claimed yesterday her previous lawyer said she would face jail unless she made the plea agreement.
Her lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said Brown would not agree to any resolution that involved her admitting to a crime. He said Brown had not hit the alleged victim.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503431

All Saints play first gig for five years
[source: NME.com] All Saints played their first gig for five years on Wednesday at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Although the band played only a short preview set, they confessed it was a nerve-wracking return to the live arena.
"We're very nervous, you know!" Shaznay Lewis told the packed crowd as the band began their set.
They played six songs, drawn mainly from forthcoming album Studio 1 (due November 13), but also included "Pure Shores". After its completion, Nicole Appleton admitted she was "very emotional now".
The reunited band were watched by a host of celebrities, including Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno, The Prodigy's Keith Flint and Oasis bassist Andy Bell. Nicole Appleton's partner, Liam Gallagher, and Natalie Appleton's husband, The Prodigy's Liam Howlett, also looked on.

Set list:
"Chick Fit"
"Not Eazy"
"In It To Win It'
"Flashback"
"Pure Shores"
"Rocksteady"

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501080


Black Sabbath reunite, sort of
Fans of legendary UK rockers Black Sabbath will have a new group to admire next year.
Heaven And Hell, named after Black Sabbath's 1980 hit single, will feature former Sabbath members Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass), Bill Ward (drums) and Ronnie James Dio (vocalist who took over from original frontman Ozzy Osbourne).
The group say they're hoping to launch a world tour in 2007, with Iommi and Dio working on material in England.
"The fans have been wanting to see this for years and years. Now was just the time," band publicist Maureen O'Connor said.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501794


'N Sync star's boyfriend threatened
Reichen Lehmkuhl, partner of Lance Bass (the US singer who shot to fame via boy-band 'N Sync), has revealed he's been the target of violent threats following the recent publishing of his memoirs, Here's What We'll Say: Growing Up, Coming Out, And The US Air Force Academy.
Thirty-two-year-old Lehmkuhl, who won season four of US reality TV show The Amazing Race, claimed he and Bass had been forced to hire private security guards after receiving frightening threats.
"We have to be very protective," Lehmkuhl revealed. "I am not going to hide. There are threats that come in from people who do not want me to be so public and expose what is going on in the military."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501574


The Clash honoured
The Clash guitarist Mick Jones admitted to feeling some trepidation at visiting an exhibition that celebrates the band's achievements. He said it was strange to be at "the museum stage of life" while he was still alive.
As The Clash, Jones, Topper Headon, Paul Simonon and the late Joe Strummer are still considered one of rock's most revolutionary outfits. Now, 30 years after they formed, the band are on display.
Revolution Rock: The Story Of The Clash will be exhibited at Cleveland's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum until April 15, 2007. Included in the exhibit's pieces is Simonon's famous smashed bass (from the cover of London Calling), as well as stage clothing, memorabilia and original manuscripts from songs like "Know Your Rights" and "Clampdown".
"I would have liked to have done more stuff," Jones said. "We never stopped learning and even at the end we were doing great things. I would have liked to have done more."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500109

Festival Of The Sun announces final line-up
Heading to the New South Wales north coast for summer? Then drop into Port Macquarie's Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park on Friday December 15 and Saturday December 16 for Festival Of The Sun, the two-day music festival that's just announced its final line-up.
"We were inundated with band submissions," festival director Simon Luke said, "and it was very hard to choose, but we feel the mix is now perfect to set the ultimate summer vibe that we fostered at last year's successful debut."
The final list includes Augie March, The Beautiful Girls, Faker, Mia Dyson, Blue King Brown, The Fumes, Kid Confucius, The Gin Club, Dirty Lucy, Carla Werner, Gabriel's Day, Black Market Rhythm Co, The Dawn Collective, Blues Bombers, The Tenants, 4pm Project, Earl Grey, Ladybird, Shane Fritsch, The Velvet Fog, Rosie Burgess and Kurt Williams.

Augie March: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502664
The Fumes: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3546930
Faker: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3524849

Oct 25

Super Furry Animals star goes solo again
[source: NME.com] Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys will release his second solo album in January.
Candylion, the follow-up to 2005's Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, will be preceded by a single of the same name on Monday December 4, featuring guest vocals from Lisa Jen (Welsh medievalists 9 Bach).
The single will be available on 7" vinyl, CD and download, with additional songs "Colossal Smile" and "Somewhere Or Other" as B-sides.
The album was recorded mainly with Gorwel Owen in Llanfaelog, Wales, with additional recording and mixing occurring in Rio de Janeiro with Mario Caldato Jr, producer of the last two Super Furry Animals records.
Super Furry Animals are currently mixing their eighth studio album, which will also be released in 2007 on their new label, Rough Trade.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3508179

The Kooks discuss tour-stopping illness
[source: NME.com] Kooks singer Luke Pritchard has spoken about the tonsillitis and laryngitis that forced the band to postpone the first four dates of their current UK tour.
"The specialist said that if I carried on singing, the tonsillitis would keep coming back," he told NME.com. "I would have got something called chronic tonsillitis where you have to have your tonsils out. If you have them out, it changes the sound of your voice."
Pritchard avoided the operation and made do with painkillers but couldn't avoid cancelling the shows.
"It's been so frustrating, especially when we turned up at Brighton, our hometown. I felt so bad for all the people who'd bought tickets."
He also said he had been working on new material.
"I've been writing quite a lot recently," he said. "It's probably quite different stuff. I've been listening to a lot of folk music and more roots-based stuff."
He said the band hope to have an EP of new material released early next year.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3544180

Snoop Dogg caught with weapon
[source: NME.com] US authorities are considering charges against rapper Snoop Dogg after a 21-inch collapsible baton was discovered in his bag as he boarded a New York-bound flight from California.
According to the LA Times, Snoop had the baton in his laptop case as he went through a security checkpoint at John Wayne International Airport on Wednesday September 27.
Sheriff spokesman Jim Amormino said the rapper told his deputies the baton was a prop for a movie he was filming.
"He had a collapsible baton and it is classified as a dangerous weapon," Amormino said.
District attorney spokeswoman Susan Kang Shcroeder said prosecutors had not yet decided whether to charge the star.
Earlier this year, Snoop Dogg was involved in a fracas at London's Heathrow Airport that led to the rapper and five of his associates spending a night in jail.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501761

Pixies to begin work on new album
[source: NME.com] Pixies are preparing to begin work on their first studio album in 15 years.
Singer Frank Black confirmed the band will start work in January on their first record since 1991's Trompe Le Monde. But Black said they still have a lot of work to do before an album appears.
"We're rehearsing in January, if we can persuade Kim [Deal, bassist] to come out of her house," he told NME.com. "We offered to go to her but we figured if we book the rehearsals she'll show up.
"Since we got back together we've played almost everywhere we can. I know we like playing and everyone likes touring together, so to keep doing that and not record anything is kind of like being a county fair band. We don't want to do that, so the only thing we can do is become a vital band again. So it's just a matter of doing it, I guess."
Black also revealed the band are planning a best-of collection for 2007 and criticised the forthcoming DVD release of Pixies documentary LoudQUIETloud.
"David [Lovering, drummer], who was rock solid for a couple of years, his dad died. He was okay, but as it got towards the end of the tour he started drinking heavily. He messed up a couple of songs and it was all caught on film," he said. "But they re-edited this to look like it happened in the middle of our tour and it looked like this whole tour careened into this drunken stupor with David. It really wasn't like that at all. He was really solid for, like, 90 per cent of it."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3520326


AIR nominees announced
Lovers of independent Australian music will have a brand new set of accolades to celebrate in 2006.
AIR – the national Australian Independent Record Label Association – has announced the establishment of their inaugural AIR Charts Awards. The AIR Charts measure record sales of local acts released on indie labels.
The awards will feature four categories: Best Performing Independent Album, Best Performing Independent Single/EP (both measured in sales), Independent Artist Of The Year and Most Outstanding New Independent Artist.
Nominees include Ben Lee, Hilltop Hoods, The Grates, John Butler Trio, The Herd and Lior. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Sydney on Wednesday November 29.

Ben Lee: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3517375
JBT: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3517257
Hilltop Hoods: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3518210
The Grates: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3538997
Lior: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501598
The Herd: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503093

Smashing Pumpkins reveal new LP
Nine months ago, Billy Corgan, chief songwriter and frontman for one of the most seminal bands of the 90s, Smashing Pumpkins, revealed via an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune newspaper that he was planning on resurrecting his former band.
Now, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin has revealed more details about the group's plans in a MySpace posting.
"Great things are on track for the future," Chamberlin writes. "As some of you know, we are indeed creating music again – music that comes from a place so pure it will burn the lies off the very souls of those who try to discount it.
We have arrived at a place in our lives where truth and honesty prevail and we are creating from that place. Things are sounding fantastic."
Corgan and Chamberlin are working with long-time Queen/Cars producer Roy Thomas Baker and producer Terry Date (Pantera, Soundgarden). There is, however, no word on whether guitarist James Iha and bassist D'Arcy Wretzky are back on board.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3529494

Blind Melon in shock comeback
Eleven years after the tragic death of frontman Shannon Hoon, early 90s outfit Blind Melon are working with a new singer on fresh material.
The group – who shot to fame following the famous dancing bumblebee film clip for "No Rain" – saw their career ground to a halt after Hoon's death from a cocaine overdose in 1995. But they've recently unveiled a new singer, 25-year-old Texan Travis Warren.
Guitarists Christopher Thorn and Rogers Stevens, bassist Brad Smith and drummer Glen Graham are currently planning a third album and US tour.
"I was really sceptical in the beginning about doing anything, and none of us are into doing any kind of nostalgia trip," Stevens said. "We started playing, and I knew within the first half of a song that [Warren] was nailing it. It was something about the way he did it that immediately disarmed my scepticism."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3507410


Gwen Stefani winds up for new LP and Oz tour
No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani says her new album is "surprisingly different" to her 2004 solo debut.
The Sweet Escape, due for release in December, will be preceded by a single, the catchy "Wind It Up".
"I started recording it last year before [son] Kingston was born and it's definitely evolved over the last year," Stefani revealed.
"The dance sound is very 'now'. It's modern… not so retro."
Stefani had originally planned to release an album before she discovered she was pregnant. She then shelved a bunch of material and later teamed with songwriters Linda Perry, Pharrell Williams, Dave Stewart, Nellee Hooper and… her mum, Patti, who inspired the lyrics to one track.
Stefani says she plans to embark on a tour in April, which will include a visit to Australia.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3509466
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3507929

Oct 24

Thom Yorke reveals favourite Radiohead tune
[source: NME.com] Thom Yorke believes "How To Disappear Completely" from 2000's Kid A is the most beautiful piece of music Radiohead have committed to tape.
Speaking to The Culture Show, Yorke named the song when asked what moment he would most like to be remembered for. Radiohead fans think somewhat differently. In August, NME.com users voted "Just" from The Bends as their favourite track.
Meanwhile, Yorke will release his second solo single, "Analyse", on Monday November 6. The package also includes B-sides "A Rat's Nest" and "Lluvya".
The single will be available on CD, 12" vinyl and as a digital download.

Radiohead: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501830


Graham Coxon: "I'm better than Blur"
[source: NME.com] Graham Coxon has declared his solo material "better than Blur".
The former Blur guitarist – who quit the band in 2002 – could well refuel the rows that were commonplace around the time of his departure.
"I'd been in a group with Damon Albarn for a long time and that was a lot to live up to," Coxon said of the pressures of becoming a full-time solo artist. "We worked so hectically in Blur on structure and the overall sound. So when I was writing I would ask myself, 'Is this as catchy as a Blur song?'. Or, 'Does it sound too much like a Blur song?'.
"I mean, 'Coffee And TV' [1999 Blur single] and 'Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery' [2004 solo single] have very similar rhythm and structure, but they're [rhythms and structures] that have been used many times before, from Simon and Garfunkel to Sonic Youth. So I didn't worry about that too much. So yes, I do compare and I think a lot of my songs are better than Blur."
But the desire to write solo pop songs, he told the South Wales Echo, surfaced only after he overcame his alcohol problem.
Talking about 2000's lo-fi collection The Golden D, Coxon admitted he was still "in the grip of booze" then.
"It's a fairly angry, lashing-out sort of a record. I didn't know if I was capable of writing proper songs when I left Blur and it was only through practise that I have been able to write something like 'Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery', which shocked me when I wrote it because it was such a good stand-alone pop song."
Meanwhile, Coxon still believes his old mate Albarn has the edge over him in other ways.
"I'm not a great frontman," he said, "and when I see proper frontmen I realise how crap I am at it. My show depends on the audience and I like it when someone shouts something a bit cheeky. If the audience are quiet I don't really know what to say to them."
Coxon released new single "Bloody Annoying"/"What Ya Gonna Do Now?" in the UK this week.

Coxon: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502844
Blur: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501548


Yeah Yeah Yeahs collaborate with The Horrors
[source: NME.com] Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner has spoken about collaborating with NME cover stars The Horrors and revealed he'd be happy to do it again.
Zinner has been working with the garage rockers on their debut album, due for release next year.
"I liked their music and image – they're both trashy, macabre, loud and a little bit camp. Also, after meeting them, I was happy to learn they were all secret brainiacs," Zinner said.
"The boys were very well behaved in the studio. I would reward each of them upon completion of their final takes with a pint of virgin blood," he told Neu! Magazine. "I would love to work together again, if my schedule allowed it."
The Horrors release new single "Count In Fives" on Monday October 30.

YYYS: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3506555


The Flaming Lips confirm new single
[source: NME.com] The Flaming Lips will release new EP It Overtakes Me on Monday November 13.
Taken from recent album At War With The Mystics, "It Overtakes Me" is joined by three new tracks. "Time Travel" is a collaboration with singer-songwriter Steve Burns, while there's also an Albino New Wave Mix No 12 of album track "Free Radicals". "Crazy In Tikrit" rounds out the collection.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500412


Bacardi ARIA after-show party
Music fans across the country will be glued to their television screens on Sunday October 29 for the 2006 ARIA Awards.
But the fun doesn't stop there. Straight after the awards presentation, the cream of the local music industry will be partying until dawn at the official Bacardi ARIA after-show party, which features its very own live gig!
London funk fiends Loose Cannons, who've toured with Scissor Sisters, Girls Aloud and Princess Superstar, will team with the Australian Ballet and a local VJ to produce a truly unique show. Local outfit The Punisherz (featuring Channel [V]'s Yumi Stymes and James Matheson) will also appear, plus Grinspoon's Phil Jamieson will show off his DJ skills.

Loose Cannons: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3517661


Human Nature on top of the charts, dancing in the street
Their first compilation in the classic song series – Reach Out: The Motown Record – sold more than 350,000 copies in Australia. Now pop outfit Human Nature have topped the ARIA charts again with its follow-up, Dancing In The Street: The Songs Of Motown II.
"Having the new album come in at number one is just a huge deal for us," the group's Andrew Tierney said. "The chance to be singing the songs we've always loved, and to know there's so many people wanting to hear us do it, is a pretty special thing. For us, Dancing In The Street is an even better album than our first Motown record, so we're glad it's been received so well."
Human Nature will perform at the 2006 ARIA Awards in Sydney this Sunday.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503365


Courtney Love completes new album
At the height of Courtney Love's battle with drink and drugs, the former Hole frontwoman lost the ability to play guitar.
"My hand-eye coordination was so bad; I didn't even know chords anymore," Love said of her 2005 stint in rehab.
Love, who narrowly avoided jail over a series of charges, has almost completed her first album since 2004's America's Sweetheart. She's working once again with songwriter Linda Perry, the former 4 Non Blondes singer responsible for writing hit tracks like Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful", a song Love has now co-written a sequel to, "Letter To God".
"Courtney is the queen of rock and roll to me," Perry said of the collaboration. "Damn it all to hell. She is the last one."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3517800

Melissa Etheridge has twin cause for celebration
US singer Melissa Etheridge has become a proud parent again. Her partner, The L Word's Tammy Lynn Michaels, gave birth to a set of twins.
Son Miller Steven and daughter Johnnie Rose join Etheridge's other children, daughter Bailey Jean and son Beckett (both of whom were conceived via artificial insemination using a sperm donation from rock legend David Crosby).
"Tammy and the babies are in excellent health," Etheridge announced via her website, admitting her new children were fathered by an anonymous donor. "The creation of life brings about immeasurable love, and pours hope into the future. The joy will help carry us through our upcoming sleepless nights."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503152

Oct 23

New twist in Madonna adoption saga
[source: NME.com] The father of the Malawian boy adopted by Madonna has claimed he didn't know the adoption meant giving up his son for good.
Yohane Banda said he would never have given up 13-month David had he known it was for life. He claimed Malawian adoption services failed to tell him the procedure meant David would no longer be his son.
Banda, who is illiterate, said he had no idea what the High Court adoption papers he signed had meant and he was "just realising" what the procedure entailed.
"I want more clarification on the adoption," he said. "I would prefer that David goes back to the orphanage where I can see him any time I want, rather than send him away for good."
According to the Associated Press news agency, Banda said he thought Madonna would just "educate and take care of our son". But he still thanked the star for rescuing David "from poverty and disease".
The child is now in London with Madonna and her family. He will be monitored for 18 months before the adoption is fully approved.
Meanwhile, a human rights group are launching an appeal over the adoption in Malawi High Court on Friday October 27. They argue foreign adoptive parents must live in the country for 18 months before adoption can be approved.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3534378


Damon Albarn launches new band with tiny pub gig
[source: NME.com] Damon Albarn launched his new project with a gig in a tiny village pub last night.
The group, which also features Clash bassist Paul Simonon, former Verve guitarist Simon Tong and influential Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, played to just 150 people at the Pig's Nose in East Prawle, Devon.
While they're yet to settle on a name – "We're nameless," Albarn claimed – the band's forthcoming album is called The Good The Bad And The Queen.
The group ran through the album, in order, in what was their first live performance. The night acted as a warm-up for an appearance at the London Roundhouse on Thursday October 26 as part of the BBC's Electric Proms season.
"I enjoyed tonight's gig," Simonon told NME.com. "It's good. It's the birth, and the egg has broken."
Albarn was pleased his new group did not rest on their reputations.
"It was great," he explained. "We've done a lot of rehearsal and none of us have taken it for granted, even though we've done a lot before. You know that everyone has performed in front of 100,000 people, so they're not there to prove anything. They're there to really make sure the music is as good as they can get it."

Set list:

"History Song"
"80s Life"
"Northern Whale"
"Kingdom Of Doom"
"Herculean"
"Behind The Sun"
"The Bunting Song"
"Nature Springs"
"Soldier's Tale"
"Three Changes"
"Green Fields"
"The Good, The Bad & The Queen"


The Kaiser Chiefs discuss new album
[source: NME.com] The Kaiser Chiefs have spent the last six weeks recording the follow-up to 2005's Employment.
They've put down 22 tracks in Oxfordshire's Hook End Studio and hope to settle on 13 or 14 for the as-yet-untitled album.
"We are full of inspiration," drummer Nick Hodgson told Billboard. "It's a big world out there and there are a lot of things to draw upon. Just like [2005's Employment] was written about what was happening then, this one's written about what's happening now."
Hodgson said new song "Heat Dies Down" chronicles the band's escalating popularity.
"Last Christmas we went to this big party and it was weird because it was the first time we'd been back in Leeds. Loads of attention was being thrown upon us, especially Ricky [Wilson, frontman]. [He] couldn't really operate in a normal way.
"There were loads of girls and boys going up to him, saying, 'Oh! I saw you here/there and I think you're really good.' So, when the heat dies down, we'll be back in town."
The band have also recorded "Highroyds", "Angry Mob", "Try Your Best", "Everything Is Average Nowadays" and "Love's Not A Competition (But I'm Winning)".
Hodgson also said the band were looking to rock legends Led Zeppelin for inspiration when it comes to breaking America.
"We were looking at some sales figures of Led Zeppelin. The first album did eight million in the US alone. The fourth: 23 million! So we're like 'Yeah, it'd be great to do that, wouldn't it? It'd be great to play massive gigs in America'.
"We've got to sell 100 million records. If we keep making 'em and you keep buying 'em, we'll get there."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3524131


Girls Aloud lash out at Pete Doherty
[source: NME.com] Girls Aloud have attacked Pete Doherty and his musical ability, suggesting he is overrated.
"He's supposed to be this musical genius, but has anyone heard his singing?" Nadie Coyle said in an interview with The Times.
"I've heard a Babyshambles album and it was like, 'What am I listening to?'. We could make a record that sounded like that, but could he make one that sounded like us?"
Meanwhile, bandmate Kimberly Walsh questioned Doherty's desirability.
"I guess if you like brown teeth and mouldy fingers, he's your guy," she sneered.
Girls Aloud release their best-of album, The Sound Of Girls Aloud, on Monday October 30.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502748


Keith Urban cancels tour, enters rehab
Keith Urban has checked himself into a rehabilitation facility.
The Aussie country crooner and husband of actress Nicole Kidman said he "deeply regrets" the hurt he has caused loved ones.
"One can never let one's guard down on recovery and I'm afraid that I have," Urban said in a statement issued by his record company. "With the strength and unwavering support I am blessed to have from my wife, family and friends, I am determined and resolved to a positive outcome."
The singer's planned promotional visit to Australia – where he was to appear at the 2006 ARIA Awards – has been postponed.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?albumid=2504742

Anthony Callea prepares new LP
He released the biggest Australian single of all time ("The Prayer", from his self-titled debut LP) and now Anthony Callea has a new ballad up his sleeve.
"Live For Love", which hits radio today, is the first single to be lifted from his second album, due for release on Saturday November 25.
Callea said the song represents a new musical chapter.
"It's about hope, and the words describe that: 'We see the world falling down around us'," the 24-year-old explained. "It shows how humanity has forgotten to live for love, but this should be our main focus in life. I wanted to go with this song first because, especially with Christmas coming up, it's about family and friends. I wanted to have something that reflects what this time of the year should be about."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3515061

St Jerome's Laneway Festival
Live music fans better start saving because the St. Jerome's Laneway Festival is coming.
The event, which debuted in Melbourne last year, will also take in Sydney and Brisbane in 2007.
Heading to our shores are New Jersey indie rock darlings Yo La Tengo, Swedish pop trio Peter Bjorn & John, Glaswegian pop outfit Camera Obscura, Swedish pop-punk five-piece Love Is All, Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan, London rockers Archie Bronson Outfit and New Yorkers The Walkmen. They join local artists like Youth Group, Macromantics, Midnight Juggernauts, Ground Components and The Temper Trap.

Peter, Bjorn and John: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3550868
Love Is All: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3549734
Ground Components: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3551093

Nick Cave says no to commercials
Former Birthday Party frontman and respected solo artist Nick Cave is adamant he'll never allow his music to be used in commercials.
The Aussie musician, who's nominated for a 2006 APRA Screen Music award for his soundtrack to The Proposition, says he finds it "offensive" when musicians sell their songs.
"Iggy Pop's 'Lust For Life' was used for a car ad," he argued. "I used to drive around in my car when I was 19, screaming that song – it had an anti-establishment purpose. For it now to be appropriated by the advertising industry… I think that's f***ed. I'm not trying to take the moral high ground, but I wouldn't allow my music to be used in that way.
"A sanitary napkin company back in New Zealand wanted to use 'Red Right Hand', which was tempting, but that's the closest I've come."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3536295

October 20

Coldplay buy new recording studio
Coldplay plan to buy a London property and convert it into a state-of-the-art recording studio for use on the follow-up to 2005's X&Y. The building in Hampstead will also double as an office for members for the band's staff.
"We're trying to find somewhere we can set up and work from," drummer Will Champion said earlier this year. "In all of these years working together we haven't had a headquarters, our own studio, or anything like that. We want somewhere we can hole up and see what happens."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501550


New Beyoncé material to feature on soundtrack
Beyoncé will release new track "Listen" in the US on November 13. It's the first single to be lifted from the soundtrack to Dreamgirls, a film in which she appears alongside Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Danny Glover.
The Dreamgirls soundtrack is due out on December 5, while the film arrives in US cinemas on December 21. The film, which tells the story of a girl group, is allegedly modelled on the tale of The Supremes.
The soundtrack's complete tracklisting is unknown, but it 's thought leaked Beyoncé tune "One Night Only" will also feature.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501558


Oasis to receive Outstanding Brit award
Oasis will be awarded the Outstanding Contribution To Music gong at next year's Brit Awards. The band will receive the honour during the ceremony at London's Earl's Court on February 14.
"Oasis set the standard for many of the young rock bands who are currently enjoying success in the UK charts," Brit Awards organiser Peter Jamieson said. "As the awards go live for the first time in nearly two decades, it is appropriate we should honour one of the most exciting live acts the UK has produced."
Previous recipients of the Outstanding Contribution Award include The Beatles, U2, Paul Weller, Tom Jones, Sting, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Eurythmics and The Who.
Oasis are no strangers to the Brit Awards. In 1995 they won Best British Breakthrough Act, and in 1996 they scooped the pool with Best British Album for (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Best British Group and Best British Video for "Wonderwall".
The band, who in last year's Guinness Book Of World Records were declared the UK's most successful act of the last decade, are due to release greatest hits collection Stop The Clocks on November 20.
Meanwhile, for the first time in its history, the Brit Awards will feature a live vote for the Best British Single category. Viewers will be able to vote for their favourite of the five short-listed singles, with the winner announced at the end of the show.
Nominations for the 27th Brit Awards will be unveiled at the Hammersmith Palais in London on January 16, 2007.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500110


Muse triumph at UK Festival Awards
Muse and Arctic Monkeys were the big winners at this year's UK Festival Awards.
Muse walked away with Best Rock Act and Best Headline Act for their performance at the Carling Weekend: Reading And Leeds Festivals, while the Arctic Monkeys bagged Anthem Of The Summer for "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor".
Radiohead's rare performance of early hit "Creep" at this year's V Festival won the Most Memorable Event gong, while The Kooks picked up Best Breakthrough Act and Primal Scream won Festival Feel Good Act. Mean Fiddler's Melvin Benn also picked up the Outstanding Contribution To Festivals gong.
More than one million public votes were cast in the three weeks prior to the award ceremony.

Muse: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3526261
Radiohead: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501830
Arctic Monkeys: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3543198
Kooks: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3544180
Primal Scream: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500623


Tim Finn to tour Australia
With a brand new album – his seventh, Imaginary Kingdom – recently released, Split Enz singer Tim Finn will take to the stage in the new year.
Finn will return to Australia in February for a series of solo shows, plus performances alongside Pete Murray as part of the Day On The Green winery concerts.
Tickets for A Day On The Green go on sale Friday October 27, while Finn's solo shows will be on sale from Tuesday October 3.
Finn: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502302
Murray: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501566


Westlife defend Delta
Irish boy-band Westlife have come to the defence of Delta Goodrem, slamming UK newspaper reports suggesting she was responsible for the marriage break-up of former bandmate Brian McFadden.
"We feel sorry for Delta," singer Nicky Byrne, who collaborated with the Aussie pop star on Westlife's last album, Face To Face, said. "People blame her but she's the victim in this."
McFadden's ex-wife, Kerry Katona, has been speaking to the UK press in recent weeks, detailing their tempestuous marriage and stating her ex-husband's relationship with Goodrem pushed her towards drink and drug abuse.
Westlife: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501591
Delta: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501561


Wilco's Jeff Tweedy punches fan
Remember not to heckle Jeff Tweedy. At a recent Wilco performance in Springfield, Missouri, Tweedy ended up punching a male fan who'd jumped onstage and grabbed the singer from behind.
"This guy was an idiot," the concert's production manager, Pat Hagin, said. "[Tweedy] certainly has a right and a need, in my mind, to feel safe onstage."
"I feel terrible," Tweedy told the crowd, as the fan returned to the pit. "I don't like to punch someone in the face. It sucks. We can make it better. I was having a really good time, but now I want to go sit down somewhere. But we can't do that. We're not gonna let those bastards win."
Tweedy later spoke out about the incident on the band's website.
"He approached me from behind and I reacted in defence to get him away. I didn't know what his intentions were, and I had to get him off of me. I'm sad that it happened at all."
Tweedy has a new solo DVD, Sunken Treasure, due out next week.
http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500294


BRMC rev up for new album
California trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are back in the studio preparing for the follow-up to 2005's Howl LP.
The-as-yet-untitled record is "maybe 80 or 90 per cent done," according to singer Peter Hayes, who admitted it's been difficult to find the time to finish the album.
"We made the statement we wouldn't do anything until we get this done, but all of a sudden we get offers like the Rolling Stones [tour support]," Hayes said. "But we need to sit down and try to get this done if it's going to come out in February or March. I don't know how it happens but we always seem to be not on time, all the time."
BRMC: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502008
Rolling Stones: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502061


McCartney defends himself
The divorce between ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills is turning ever uglier.
London's Daily Mail newspaper has reported details of an alleged court document, filed by Mills, apparently containing information on mistreatment and drug use.
"Our client will be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately," law firm Payne Hicks Beach, who are representing the 64-year-old rocker, said.
"[McCartney] would very much like to respond in public and in detail to the allegations made recently against him by his wife and published in the press, but he recognises, on advice, that the only correct forum for his response to the allegations made against him is in the current divorce proceedings."
The couple have a three-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3534969

Silverchair - Oct 19

Silverchair pay tribute to Midnight Oil at ARIA Awards
Former Newcastle trio Silverchair have announced they’ll perform a classic Midnight Oil song at the 2006 ARIA Awards to celebrate the legendary band’s induction into the ARIA Hall Of Fame.
It will be the first ARIA appearance in four years for Silverchair, who are currently recording a new album that's due for release in early 2007. According to frontman Daniel Johns, the opportunity to celebrate the Oils' achievements in Australian music was simply unmissable.
“The invitation to pay tribute to the Oils was just too good to refuse,” Johns said. “They are true musical pioneers and one of the greatest Australian artists of all time.”
Make sure you tune into the 2006 ARIA Awards – broadcast on Network Ten at 7.30pm on Sunday October 29 – to catch the performance.

Silverchair: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501545
Midnight Oil: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3523234

October 19

Panic! At The Disco rubbish emo
[source: NME.com] Panic! At The Disco have distanced themselves from emo, calling the genre "bullshit".
In this week's issue of NME, singer Brendon Urie said the band found the label insulting.
"It's ignorant! The stereotype is guys that are weak and have failing relationships write about how sad they are. If you listen to our songs, not one of them has that tone," he declared.
"Emo is bullshit! If people want to take it for the literal sense of the word then yes, we're an emotional band, we put a lot of thought into what we do. People always try to stereotype us, but we don't fit the emo stereotype."

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3536420


Nine Black Alps get to work on second album
[source: NME.com] Nine Black Alps have returned to the studio to begin work on their second album.
The follow-up to 2005's Everything Is will be recorded with Oasis and Jet producer Dave Sardy in Los Angeles and should be released in early 2007.
According to a posting on Nineblackalps.com, the band and Dave Sardy will "furrow their brows, vent their spleens and bleed their hearts into the production of a glorious technicolour, audiophonic dreamscape".

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3533702

Arctic Monkeys go Latin
[source: NME.com] Arctic Monkeys have been re-recorded by members of Latin music pioneers Buena Vista Social Club.
A reinterpretation of "Dancing Shoes" appears on the group's new covers album, Rhythms Del Mundo. It's one of the first occasions Arctic Monkeys have licensed their music for use on a compilation album.
Arranged by Demitrio Muniz, the Buena Vista version retains the original orchestration, along with the majority of the original vocals, and then layers new flourishes over the top.
"Arctic Monkeys are crazy," Muniz told NME.COM. "They're just so cool, smooth, danceable and joy-provoking."
The album, released on November 13, also features the Havana-based collective adding to "Modern Way" by Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand's "The Dark Of The Matinee", Coldplay's "Clocks" and "High And Dry" by Radiohead.
The album is also notable for being the last ever recording of vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer and is in aid of Artists Project Earth (APE), an organisation that lends support to natural disaster relief and climate change awareness.

Album tracklisting:
"Clocks" - Coldplay
"Better Together" - Jack Johnson
"Dancing Shoes" - Arctic Monkeys
"One Step Too Far" - Dido & Faithless
"As Time Goes By" - Ibrahim Ferrer
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' - Coco and U2
"She Will Be Loved" - Maroon 5
"Modern Way" - Kaiser Chiefs
"Killing Me Softly" - Omara Portuondo
"Ai No Corria" - Vanya & Quincy
"Fragilidad" - Sting
"Don't Know Why" - Vanya
"Hotel Buena Vista" - Aquila Rose and Idana
"The Dark Of The Matinee" - Coco and Franz Ferdinand
"High And Dry" - Lele & Radiohead
"Casablanca" - Ibrahim and Omara

Arctic: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3543198
Kaiser Chiefs: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3524131


Def Jam rapper shot in garage
[source: NME.com] Rapper Fabolous was shot on Tuesday morning in New York.
The rapper, signed to Jay-Z's Def Jam label, is currently in stable condition and under arrest.
According to Sgt Mike Wysokowski, Fabolous (real name: John Jackson) was shot once in the thigh after he and three other men were approached by a gunman.
The four then jumped into a vehicle and sped off, attracting attention when they ran a red light.
Police stopped the vehicle and discovered two loaded, allegedly unlicensed, guns in the vehicle. All four men were arrested and have charges pending.
Fabolous was taken to hospital where he is currently being treated for his injuries.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500776


Jet postpone tour
Melbourne four-piece Jet have been forced to postpone their upcoming European tour dates as singer Nic Cester is suffering from acute laryngitis.
"Jet would like to apologise to those fans who have already purchased tickets. The band have vowed to make up all missed shows," a statement from the group's record label read.
It also revealed Cester will undergo specialist treatment over the next fortnight as he's believed to have developed nodules on his vocal chords after losing his voice in New York two weeks ago.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501552

Rockstar: Supernova lose house band
Fans of reality TV show/band Rockstar: Supernova are preparing for the group's first tour, but they won't be seeing much-loved house band OB:House.
The super-group - Motley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilbey Clarke, ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newstead and vocalist Lucas Rossi - have ditched their support act in a move that's outraged fans.
An email from OB:House drummer Nate Morton revealed more details about the shock axing.
"We will not be taking part in the upcoming Rockstar tour," it read. "We've heard through the grapevine that this was a decision made solely for financial reasons, however we assure you those 'financial reasons' had nothing to do with any changes made on our part.
"Apparently terms became unacceptable to parties within the Rockstar: Supernova management and we were subsequently fired from the tour, information which was available online before we were even told."
Rockstar: Supernova's debut LP is due later this year and the band will begin their Australian tour (with Juke Kartel, the outfit featuring Aussie contestant Toby Rand) on Thursday March 15.
Tickets go on sale Tuesday October 24.

Motley Crue: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502643
Guns N' Roses: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502719

Jay-Z hits Australia for Kingdom Come
In Australia next week to promote "comeback' album Kingdom Come, rap mogul Jay-Z has told reporters he feared the record would never be finished.
Featuring contributions from the likes of Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Just Blaze and even Coldplay's Chris Martin, Jay-Z revealed it took some time before the inspiration started flowing.
"I spent about a week, maybe two weeks in the studio," he explained. "I wouldn't do anything. I said, 'Well, maybe I'm not gonna do this'. One week later, I had about six songs.
"I'm used to putting out albums every eight months, and I had a flood of material. So it was easy.'"

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3516632

Bobby Brown back in court
R'n'B star Bobby Brown has coughed up US$11,000 in delinquent child support after being threatened with arrest.
The singer - who told the Massachusetts family court judge he was having a "very difficult" time after wife Whitney Houston recently filed for divorce - had been issued with a warrant after failing to appear at an earlier hearing. Brown owed two months' payment to Kim Ward, the mother of his two teenage children.
Brown first shot to fame as a member of New Edition and had a hit in 1988 with solo album Don't Be Cruel. In 2004 he was sentenced to 90 days' prison for failing to make payments, although managed to avoid incarceration after paying the US$15,000 required.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3533076

Oct 18

Kasabian cover Status Quo
[source: NME.com] Kasabian release new single "Shoot The Runner" on November 6 and have recorded a version of Status Quo's "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" to feature on the B-side.
The B-side will also contain the previously unreleased "Stay Away From The Brown Acid (Part 1)" and The Shakes' remix of "Shoot The Runner".
Audio clips can be found at the band's official site (http://www.kasabian.co.uk).

Kasabian: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3521749
Status Quo: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502387


All Saints album details
[source: NME.com] All Saints have announced details of their comeback album, Studio 1. It's their first new material since 2000's Saints & Sinners.
The record, due for release on November 13, saw the four-piece work with long-time producer KG, Peaches collaborator Greg Kurstin and Madonna cohort Rick Nowels.

Album tracklisting:
"Rock Steady"
"Chick Fit"
"On & On"
"Scar"
"Not Eazy"
"Hell No"
"One Me & You"
"Headlock"
"Too Nasty"
"In It To Win"
"Flashback"
"Fundamental".

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501080

Ryan Adams explains musical web excursions
[source: NME.com] Ryan Adams recently made a dozen thrashy songs (and a rap tune!) available on his website.
Now, a post on the site claims the songs by his metal project, Werewolph, are too scary to release.
"It's just stuff I do in my spare time, under the name The Shit," Adams said of the recent songs. "I record some punk stuff when I get bored 'cause I like to play music when I'm not busy playing music.
"My other metal project is called Werewolph, but it's too scary to release as it is so metal and scary that people actually turn to ice when I play it for them. Those few unlucky souls now haunt the offices of the NME instructed by my witchmaster.
"Anyway, The Shit (me on everything except drums, which is sometimes Brad and sometimes JT) have made five albums: 1) Is This Shit, 2) Hits The Fans, 3) General Ulysses S Hospitol, 4) HillybillyJoel (which is with The Cardinals under the name CardinalShits), and 5) slef-protrait.
"And Brad and I are working on GarageBand wars right now. I have an alternative death metal country band called Wilcoven. Its pretty sick."
Meanwhile, Adams recently appeared in an advert for GAP with Willie Nelson. The pair are collaborating on Nelson's new album, which features Adams's backing band, The Cardinals.

Ryan: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502418
Willie: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500127

Radiohead start work on seventh album
[source: NME.com] Thom Yorke has confirmed Radiohead are currently recording their seventh album.
The singer revealed the news in typically bizarre fashion, during a posting about the Big Ask environmental campaign.
"We've started the record properly now. Staring to get somewhere I think," he wrote on the band's site. "If it scares you speechless and wakes you in the night, if you are bothered about the flooding you keep seeing, or those high winds, or that there is something not quite right about the fact you're still walking around in a T-shirt in October, please find out about the Big Ask campaign."
The campaign urges the government to reduce carbon emissions by three per cent each year by making it law.
"We are hassling all MPs in the UK to write to our glorious leader and get a bill that commits us all to reducing carbon emissions by three per cent a year," Yorke explained. "Its a start. It has to be law, otherwise it's never going to happen. And it has to."

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501830


Hoobastank head to Oz
Hoobastank will visit Australia early next year for the first time in almost three years.
Formed in Agoura Hills, California, a little over 12 years ago, the band's last visit Down Under saw them play a string of sold-out shows. Their upcoming album, Every Man For Himself, is the follow-up to the band's monster 2003 hit The Reason.
Hoobastank embark on a run of east coast shows in February 2007. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday October 27.

Hoobastank: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503274

Bono appears in court
"It's our stuff, she has it, and a lot more beside. We want out stuff back. We want her to stop selling it."
That's U2 frontman Bono testifying this week against the band's former stylist, "fashion consultant" Lola Cashman, as part of an Irish High Court appeal.
In 2002, the band sued Cashman successfully after she attempted to sell clothes, photos and various items of U2 memorabilia. Cashman insists she received the "gifts" while working on the group's Joshua Tree tour back in 1987/88.
Describing her as "an eccentric pain in the neck", Bono argued in the dock that it was he who'd picked out his famous Stetson hat (worn on the cover of Rattle & Hum). Cashman says he gave the hat to her when he was backstage, "dancing in his underwear". The case continues.

U2: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3504356


Gene Simmons smells great
Kiss bassist Gene Simmons appeared at a North Carolina army base this week promoting a new line of perfumes.
Fans who picked up a bottle of Kiss Him cologne or Kiss Her perfume also received an autograph and photo with the famously long-tongued rocker, who also hopped up onstage to join the 82nd Airborne Division's rock band, Riserburn, in their cover of the band's "Shout It Out Loud".
"If people decide a Kiss fragrance line makes sense," Simmons said, "who's to argue with America?"
It's certainly not the first piece of creative marketing the band have been involved in. Earlier this year a Kiss coffee shop opened in South Carolina.

Kiss: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502645


Midnight Oil release new compilation
Midnight Oil return to record stores next week with a new compilation. Out just in time for Christmas, Flat Chat chronicles one of the most influential bands in Australian rock history and features classic tracks like "Read About It", "Don't Wanna Be The One" and "Best Of Both Worlds".
The album spans an amazing 30 years, with many tracks digitally remastered for the first time.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3523234

October 17

Madonna adoption bid challenged
[source: NME.com] Madonna's bid to adopt a child has been challenged by Malawian child rights groups.
The singer is facing a possible injunction from the Eye Of The Child organisation after she filed adoption papers for one-year-old David Banda.
The group are supported by another Malawian human rights group, The Civil Liberties Committee, in their bid to stop the interim adoption, BBC News reported.
"It's not like selling property," an Eye Of The Child statement read. "It's about safeguarding the future of a human being who, because of age, cannot express an opinion."
Malawian officials claim Madonna will spend time with the child while she awaits the final adoption approval, which could take two years.
David has been cared for at the Home Of Hope Orphan Care Centre near Zambia since his mother died after childbirth complications.

Madonna: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3534378


Lou Reed brings Berlin to Australia
[source: NME.com] Lou Reed will fly to Australia in December to help premiere the Berlin stage show.
Following the December dates, the production will run seven times through mid-January at Sydney's St. Ann's Warehouse.
Reed is due to be joined onstage by Antony Hegarty from Antony & The Johnsons, singer Sharon Jones, Fernando Saunders and Rob Wasserman.
St. Ann's Artistic Director Susan Feldman said she's wanted to produce Berlin for a decade.
"It's been gratifying to engage Lou and some of his closest collaborators - Bob Ezrin, Julian Schnabel, Hal Willner - in what's sure to be a labour of love and an important part of rock history. 'Berlin' is a sad song about people on the edge, that, at its highest moments, achieves a shimmering elegance."

Berlin dates:
December 14 to 17 - St. Ann's Warehouse, Sydney
January 18 to 20 - St. Ann's Warehouse, Sydney

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500465


Nirvana extras revealed
[source: NME.com]

Nirvana's first DVD, due to hit shops on November 13, will feature five previously unreleased performances from the band's legendary gig at Amsterdam's Paradiso Club on November 25, 1991.
"School", "About A Girl", "Been A Son", "On A Plain" and "Blew" will all appear on Live! Tonight! Sold Out!! , as well as a secret "Easter egg" bonus feature, according to fansite Nirvanaclub.com.
The original VHS project was conceived by Kurt Cobain and overseen by Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic following the singer's death.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502764


Paul McCartney seeks trademark
[source: NME.com] Paul McCartney is seeking to trademark his name.
The former Beatle's company, MPL Communications Ltd, has lodged an application seeking exclusive rights to use his name on clothing and food.
Objections to the application can be lodged with the Trademarks Registry over the next three months.
A trademark judge will then decide whether it has successfully met the required legal criteria, Reuters reported.
If the application is approved, the company will be able to take action against others using identical, or even similar, names and logos.

http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3534969


First ARIA awards given out
It may be two weeks until the biggest night in Australian music - the 2006 ARIA Awards - but already there are celebrations.
The 2006 ARIA Fine Arts Awards winners have been revealed during a ceremony at the stunning Verbrugghen Hall in Sydney's Conservatorium Of Music. The Awards celebrate excellence in the fields of classical, jazz, world music and soundtrack/cast/show.
This year's winners include songwriter Paul Kelly, who, together with collaborator Dan Luscombe, won a gong for his soundtrack to Jindabyne.
Meanwhile, Sydney trio The Necks took home their second ARIA, again winning the jazz category, this time for longplayer Chemist.
Richard Tognetti, Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, won Best Classical Album for his interpretation of Bach's solo violin works, while Melbourne outfit Cat Empire were awarded Best World Music Album for Cities: The Cat Empire Project.
The 2006 ARIA Awards are held on Sunday October 29.

Paul Kelly & Dan Luscombe: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3547790
The Cat Empire: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3519759


Michael Jackson keeps the kids
Michael Jackson has one less legal trouble to worry about: his three-year custody battle with ex-wife Debbie Rowe is over.
Rowe had filed for visitation rights and custody of the former couple's two children, nine-year-old Prince Michael and eight-year-old Paris Michael. However, according to US Weekly, Rowe has reportedly agreed to a new arrangement where she'll give up her parental rights in exchange for alimony payments of US$750,000 a year.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500107


Guns N' Roses team with Sebastian Bach
Guns N' Roses will hit the road in the US with former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach.
"We are so excited to be going on tour with Guns N' Roses," Bach said. "I have waited for the perfect opportunity to tour North America again and this is absolutely the greatest tour any of us could ever imagine."
The Gunners are launching their Chinese Democracy tour, which kicks off in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday October 20.
"It's been over ten years since I have screamed in a lot of these arenas," Bach said, "and there are many places on this tour I have dreamed of playing but never have until now."

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502719


LCD Soundsystem: let's get physical
Fans of James Murphy (aka LCD Soundsystem) should prepare to strap on their trainers for a session in the gym.
Murphy has composed "45:33", a track that's as long as its title and written specifically for those wanting to work out.
"The idea, to make a long piece of music built around an arc designed for running, appealed to me because it was so anathematic to what you're typically asked to do as an artist (make easily digestible lumps of music for albums, or the radio, or whatever)," Murphy said.
"Our band, LCD, tends to do a lot of running on tour, mainly to keep sane and resist the inevitability of turning into a bus-bound potato."
Murphy is also currently at work on a brand new LCD Soundsystem album, to be released in March 2007.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3515155


The Stooges head for the studio
Their reformation was one of the most talked-about events in music during 2005. Now legendary pre-punk rockers The Stooges are working on their first album together in 33 years.
"All the same passions and problems are there," frontman Iggy Pop said of the recording sessions. "But the problems are in a more muted style. I'm still the show-off in the group that gets all the attention. Everyone has their role. It's pretty much the way it was in high school."

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3538867

Oct 16

Kasabian slam My Chemical Romance
[source: NME.com] Kasabian have slammed My Chemical Romance, labelling the band "clowns" who "don't have anything positive to say".
The Leicester five-piece criticised the emo rockers who look set to top the charts with new single "Welcome To The Black Parade".
"It's like ventriloquists' music," singer Tom Meighan said. "It's weird and dark. They don't have anything positive to say. The only good news is that it won't last. These clowns won't be around for much longer.
"Their make-up will flake off and the scene will die out. And it can't happen soon enough."
"I just can't relate to it," Kasabian guitarist Serge Pizzorno added. "We are about decadence, having a good time and getting off your head. We champion youthful rebellion.
"We're into peace and love, spreading harmony and having respect for people. But these people are the absolute opposite. It's sad.
"These emo kids should get out more and try and have a good time instead."
http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3521749


Ryan Adams launches radio station
[source: NME.com] Ryan Adams has launched Cardinal Radio on Ryanadams.com.
Presented by Chuck Norris, the show features 12 new Adams tracks that recall the singer's days in thrashy punk band The Finger. Adams has also being experimenting with rap, having recently posted the Beck-esque "Look Who's Got A Website" on the site.
The "radio station" caps an eventful period of online activity for Adams. As previously reported, fansite Ryanadams.org took down its forums after personal information about the singer appeared online, including his hotel details and information about his parents.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502418


Albert Hammond Jr plans another solo album
[source: NME.com] Albert Hammond Jr, whose debut album Yours To Keep was released earlier this month, already has plans to release another.
The Strokes guitarist told NME.COM there would be more records on the way.
"I'm definitely planning on writing and making another [solo album]. But if no one wants to hear my songs, I can't really make a record," he explained.
He also dismissed the suggestion that The Strokes' future albums would feature his songwriting.
"I don't think so, because I probably want to keep them for my second record!" he said.
He did agree, however, that other solo albums from Strokes members were a possibility.
"I think everyone [in the band] writes," he explained. "What would a Fab solo record sound like? If he did a solo record, it'd be rhythm and blues, like Motown or Gospel, with loads of harmonies."
Hammond Jr said work on a new Strokes album would begin in 2007.
"Probably spring next year we'll go into the studio, but there's no set date." http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501589


The Killers offended by Green Day
[source: NME.com] Brandon Flowers has criticised Green Day for what he sees as calculated anti-Americanism.
In particular, Flowers singled out "American Idiot" and their Bullet In A Bible DVD.
"You have Green Day and 'American Idiot'. And where do they film their DVD? In England," The Killers' frontman told The Word. "A bunch of kids screaming 'I don't want to be an American idiot': I saw it as a very negative thing towards Americans. It really lit a fire in me.
"You have the right to say what you want and what you want to write about, and I'm sure they meant it in the same way Bruce Springsteen meant 'Born In The USA' and it was taken wrongly, but I was really offended when I saw them do that."
Flowers said the DVD felt like a bit of a stunt.
"I just thought it was really cheap," he explained. "To go to a place like England or Germany and sing that song… those kids aren't taking it the same way that he meant it. And he [Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong] knew it."
The Killers' frontman said he believed his band's new album, Sam's Town, is a much better representation of America.
"People need to see that, really, there are the nicest people in the world here!" he declared. "I don't know if our album makes you realise that. But I hope it's from a more positive place."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503713


Sydney Big Day Out ballot announced
The first round of tickets for Sydney's Big Day Out disappeared in just five hours when they went on sale last Friday, making it the quickest-selling concert in the festival's 15-year history. Meanwhile, Melbourne tickets are selling at triple the pace of previous years.
Organisers have announced 1000 tickets each week for the Sydney show will be made available on the website through a random ballot. The ballot will be drawn at 9pm EST every Thursday from October 26 to December 28. The weekly ballot ticket limit is two tickets per person and winners will be notified by email within 30 minutes of the draw.
Appearing on the bill are The Killers, Tool, Muse, Peaches, Violent Femmes, My Chemical Romance, Spank Rock, Jet, Eskimo Joe, Scribe, The Sleepy Jackson, Evermore, The Herd and The Spazzys… with plenty more to be announced.
Head to www.bigdayout.com for more info.

The Killers: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503713
Jet: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501552
My Chemical Romance: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3504306
Muse: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3526261
Peaches: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3545133
Violent Femmes: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500386
Spank Rock: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3545089
Eskimo Joe: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501596
Scribe: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502336
Sleepy Jackson: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501602
Evermore: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3506453
The Herd: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3503093


Muse's Matt Bellamy: September 11 a conspiracy?
Speaking to a journalist in the UK, Muse frontman and guitarist Matt Bellamy has argued the terrorist attacks of September 11 may have been an "inside job", put in place by the United States Government.
"September 11 is clearly an inside job," Bellamy argued. "There's massive evidence that suggests it was either allowed to happen or, even worse, deliberately made to happen. There was a document called Project For The New America Century made by neo-Con writers in the 90s who supplied most of the agenda that Bush is putting into place now, which clearly says, 'We need a Pearl Harbor-level of event so we can have an excuse to invade the Middle East'."
Muse head to Australia in January for the Big Day Out.
Muse: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3526261


Keith Urban
Mr Nicole Kidman, aka country singer Keith Urban, has a brand new album set for release on the eve of his return to Australia. Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing is the fourth longplayer from Urban, who'll be home for a week-long promotional visit that includes a performance at the ARIA Awards on Sunday October 29.
"It's just an accurate reflection of where I'm at now," Urban said of his new record. "I think it's the sound of being happy and extremely excited with the music we're making." Meanwhile, first single "Once In A Lifetime" was the highest debuting single since the inception of the USA's Billboard Chart.
Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing is in stores on Saturday November 4.
http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501933

Hilary Duff issues restraining orders
Pop princess and film star Hilary Duff has (together with her boyfriend, Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden) sought restraining orders from the Los Angeles Superior Court against two men.
Max Doe allegedly moved from Russia to the USA specifically to meet the 19-year-old singer/actress, and, among other acts, has threatened to buy a gun and commit suicide. His room-mate, 50-year-old David Joseph Klein (who calls himself a "celebrity photographer") is accused of passing Max's foreboding messages onto Duff. A new album from the singer is due in February but she's currently shooting War Inc. with actor John Cusack.
Good Charlotte's new release, Good Morning Revival!, is due out the same month.
Hilary Duff: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3535317
Good Charlotte: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501562