Jun 28

Fall Out Boy and Fergie set for Fashion Rocks
[source: NME.com] Fall Out Boy, Jennifer Lopez and Fergie have all confirmed performances at the 2007 Fashion Rocks concert in New York City.
The annual event at Radio City Music Hall will also feature a performance by Usher, as well as appearances from Aerosmith, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne and Ludacris. The September 6 show, which celebrates the relationship between music and fashion, will be hosted by Entourage actor Jeremy Piven.

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http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Jennifer-Lopez.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Aerosmith.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Alicia-Keys.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Ludacris.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Avril-Lavigne.aspx


Public Enemy pay tribute to James Brown at BET Awards
[source: NME.com] Public Enemy paid tribute to soul legend James Brown at the BET Awards on Tuesday June 26 with a performance of "Say It Loud (I'm Black And I'm Proud)".
Flavor Flav and Chuck D also performed a medley of their own material, featuring "Fight The Power" and "911 Is A Joke". Bootsy Collins joined the pair for their tribute to Brown, who passed away late last year.
Soul legend Diana Ross was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, while fellow diva Patti LaBelle performed with the O'Jays' Eddie Levert, Gladys Knight and Yolanda Adams as part of a tribute to Levert's son Gerald, who died last year.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé won two awards: Best Female R&B Artist and Video Of The Year for "Irreplaceable". She was nominated in six categories.

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http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/James-Brown.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Bootsy-Collins.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Beyonce.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Diana-Ross.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Patti-Labelle.aspx
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Depeche Mode singer to release new solo album
[source: NME.com] Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan is set to release his second solo album.
Hourglass, the follow-up to 2003's Paper Monsters, is due out in October and was recorded in New York. It's due to be mixed by producer Tony Hoffer (Becks, The Kooks) in July.
Speaking about the album, Gahan said: "We were very aware of the importance of keeping urgency in the sound and a feeling of spontaneity. We didn't want to get bogged down in trying to make everything sound perfect. You want to keep the rough edges."
Tracks expected to feature include "Saw Something", "Use You", "Endless", "21 Days", "A Little Lie", "Deeper And Deeper", "Love Will Leave", "Down", "Miracles", "Tomorrow" and "Kingdom".

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Depeche-Mode.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Dave-Gahan.aspx


Lily Allen starts work on second album
[source: NME.com] She's been on the road since debut album Alright, Still was released last year, but Lily Allen has now started working on her next record.
"I actually have an apartment in New York and I've been there trying to record," she revealed.
"I've been working with [production duo] Future Cut again and we've come up with some ideas. It's just not really there yet."
Allen said she's determined not to rush the process.
"I think that's a mistake a lot of people make these days when they have a successful first album and the record company pushes them into rushing a second one. I'm not interested in doing that."
Speaking about the new material, she told MTV News: "The songs I've written so far are good; they just don't shout anything different to me than what the last album was like. I'd like to do something different."
Allen is set to appear at the Concert For Diana on Sunday July 1 at the new Wembley Stadium in London.

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Lily-Allen.aspx


Pearl Jam head to court over dead fans
Seven years ago, nine Pearl Jam fans - including one Australian - were crushed to death at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, while another 23 fans suffered serious injuries.
Unfortunately for the families of the deceased victims, the battle for compensation is still in litigation. Now the US rock group are set to testify in a Denmark court to help the parents in their bid for "increased damages".
In town on a current tour, frontman Eddie Vedder and guitarist Stone Gossard requested a meeting with lawyers for the families, who've been attempting to sue the festival. Despite two investigations, none of the festival organisers were charged following the tragedy.
It was discovered that sound wasn't travelling to the back of the large crowd, who surged forward, crushing those in front.

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Pearl-Jam.aspx


Ryan Adams heads Down Under
US singer-songwriter Ryan Adams - who shot to fame with a solo career following the break-up of cult alt-country outfit Whiskeytown - is heading to Australia to support new release Easy, Tiger.
Bringing his band The Cardinals along for the ride, Easy, Tiger is Adams' ninth LP. The Sydney Morning Herald think it "may yet rank as one of his best" and said it " distils his many influences and sources to a key triumvirate: sad country; even sadder pop; and whiskey-soaked mid-tempo rock".
Tickets for Adams' shows go on sale on Friday July 6.

Tour dates:

Saturday August 18 - The Tivoli, Brisbane
Monday August 20 - Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Wednesday August 22 - Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide
Thursday August 23 - Enmore Theatre, Sydney

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Ryan-Adams.aspx


My Chemical Romance reckon Marilyn Manson's "two-faced"
Emo outfit My Chemical Romance and shock rocker Marilyn Manson are locked in a battle of words following Manson's television attack on the New Jersey outfit.
Manson labelled MCR a "sad, pitiful and shallow" imitation of himself in a recent TV interview and now MCR frontman Gerard Way has hit back, calling him "two-faced".
According to MCR guitarist Frank Iero, Manson has always been nice to their faces.
"The funny thing is that he seems to have lashed out at us about the make-up. That's weird to me, because I had heard of Alice Cooper before I heard of Marilyn Manson," Iero said.
"I don't know how he could be mad at us. We never came out and said we were going to call ourselves by a girl's name and then a serial killer's name. I'm really sorry if he feels we ripped him off."

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/My-Chemical-Romance.aspx
http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Marilyn-Manson.aspx


Bono gives Blair thumbs up
U2 singer Bono has praised Tony Blair for his "straight-up" manner.
Blair left office on Wednesday to make way for new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"What I admire the most about Tony Blair is that despite all accusations of a slick PR machine, spin doctoring and the like, he has almost always exposed himself to bad press and outcry for doing the things he believed in," Bono told UK newspaper The Sun.
He also compared Blair's tenure as PM to the minister's earlier days, when he played guitar in Ugly Rumours.
"[Guitarists] are often very clever," Bono joked about the axeman-turned-pollie. "They're very studious - they spend hours in the bedroom practising."

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/U2.aspx


Splendour In The Grass line-up finalised
Tickets sold out long ago, but that hasn't stopped organisers of Byron Bay's annual Splendour In The Grass festival from pulling out the big guns for the second and final line-up announcement.
The event, which takes place on Saturday August 4 and Sunday August 5, experienced a record sell-out this year, with tickets gone in less than 30 minutes.

Saturday August 4:

Powderfinger, Kaiser Chiefs, Lily Allen, Sarah Blasko, Tilly & The Wall, Grinspoon, Hot Chip, Cat Empire, Blue King Brown, Sara Tindley, Damien Rice, The Horrors, Ash, Paul Kelly, Lost Valentinos, The Beautiful Girls, The Panics, Old Man River, Sneaky Sound System, Howling Bells, The Herd, Editors, Planet Asia, Muscles, Operator Please, Wild Marmalade PLUS DJs sets from Cut Copy DJ's (club mode), Riot In Belgium, Purple Sneakers DJs, Sean Candy aka AB.

Sunday August 5:

Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Hoodoo Gurus, Hilltop Hoods, Klaxons, The Shins, The Dirty Three, Expatriate, Josh Pyke, Airbourne, The Ride, OK Go, Spiderbait, Cut Copy, Gotye, Midnight Juggernauts, Kisschasy, Magnolia Electric Co., Bumblebeez, Holly Throsby, Teenager, Mellow Gold Rolling Thunder Revue PLUS DJ sets from Funktrust DJs, Mark Murphy and Sean Candy aka AB.

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Amy Winehouse is a cutter
UK pop songstress Amy Winehouse attracted more controversy when the latest issue of US music mag Spin hit the streets recently.
In an interview with the magazine, Winehouse reportedly showed a reporter scars from where she'd carved her husband's name (Blake Fielder-Civil) into her stomach with a shard of glass.
"I'm not in this to be a f**king role model," Winehouse told the mag.
"I don't care. I don't care about any of this and I don't have much of an opinion of myself. I don't think people care about me. I made an album I'm very proud of and that's about it. I write songs because I'm f**ked in the head and need to get something good out of something bad. I thought, 'I'm going to die if I don't write down the way I feel. I'm going to do myself in'. It's nothing spectacular."

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Amy-Winehouse.aspx


Ash return to Oz to say goodbye
It's been three years since their last visit but Northern Ireland trio Ash will head back Down Under in August.
With new album Twilight Of The Innocents due out this weekend and more than 15 years under their belt, Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray have come a long way from the teenagers we first met in the 90s. The band's August visit will be fans' last chance to catch the trio live, with the "Girl From Mars" rockers planning on calling it quits following their sixth and final release.
As well as an appearance at Byron's Splendour In The Grass festival, Ash will perform shows in Melbourne and Sydney.
The lead single from Twilight... is "You Can't Have It All" and is at radio now. Tickets go on sale Friday July 6.

Tour dates:

Wednesday August 1 - Prince of Wales, Melbourne
Thursday August 2 - Metro Theatre, Sydney

http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Ash.aspx