Search Results for: slayer

Spring Aspers has been named vice president of soundtracks and supervision for the Island Def Jam Music Group. This newly created position is intended to enhance Island Def Jam’s soundtrack activities after the establishment of Universal’s Film Music Division under Kathy Nelson. That Division created new opportunities for all of Universal Music Group’s record labels by Universal Music and Universal Pictures soundtrack album activities. Based in Los Angeles, Aspers’ responsibilities will encompass A&R for all Island Def Jam soundtrack albums, in addition to increasing the awareness of the label’s artists and its music catalog to the film and television communities.… Read more »

With The Sinister Urge, master of musical monster mayhem Rob Zombie returns with his first album since 1998’s Hellbilly Deluxe, which debuted in the Top 5 and became his best selling album to date, certified triple platinum. The Sinister Urge (Geffen Records), released November 13, 2001, features guest appearances by Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee, Slayer guitarist Kerry King, DJ Lethal and Beastie Boys DJ – Mix Master Mike. Zombie and Ozzy will launch a co-headlining tour, with each presenting their full stage show, starting on Halloween. Says Zombie: “My goal was to make a big, lush, live sounding hard rock… Read more »

Nurse Abby Lockheart has just been dumped. She is in the middle of the rather painful process of moving her stuff out of her ex-boyfriend’s apartment. And to make matters worse, Cake’s “Short Skirt/Long Jacket,” a song about the things a man is looking for in a woman, is playing on the radio. On “ER,” popular music is becoming a bigger part of the story line with every episode. “It adds something to the show every time we use it,” “ER” supervising producer and writer Scott Gemmill said. “It’s amazing what music can bring to a scene.” There’s a new… Read more »

ARTISTdirect CEO Ted Field and company Marc Geiger vice chairman today announced that Heidi Ellen Robinson has been named SVP of press and media relations. In her new post, Robinson will design and implement media campaigns for all facets of the company, including ARTISTdirect Corporate, ARTISTdirect Records and its roster, ARTISTdirect Talent Agency, and all special projects that the company undertakes such as the SnoCore and Fan Nation touring events. Robinson will report directly to Field and Geiger. “Having worked directly with Heidi for years on many projects,” said Geiger, “I know first hand how valuable she is as a… Read more »

Bassist Jason Newsted toured, recorded and partied with Metallica 24-7 for some 13 years. After quitting the band in February, at least partly because of a ban on side projects, he suddenly found the flexibility to work on multiple projects with different artists. Newsted, 38, is producing an album by punk-metal behemoth Speedealer and anticipating the major-label debut of his trio EchoBrain. Toward the end of the year, he’ll begin producing New York noise-metal band Dragpipe before entering the studio with Voivod to play bass on the band’s allegedly final album. And if he has time, he’ll play drums with… Read more »

A decade ago, Tori Amos made a musical breakthrough with an autobiographical tale of rape called “Me and a Gun.” On her new album, Strange Little Girls, she again addresses the subject of female victimization – this time by turning Eminem’s fantasy about killing his wife inside-out. She does so without changing the lyrics to “’97 Bonnie & Clyde,” but by adopting the voice of his dead wife in the trunk of the car, just before her body is thrown in Lake Michigan. “‘Bonnie & Clyde’ is a song that depicts domestic violence very accurately, right on the money,” Amos… Read more »

Tori Amos’s latest effort, Strange Little Girls, will debut at Number Four on the forthcoming Billboard 200 album chart. The album has sold more than 110,000 copies in its first week of release. Strange Little Girls features Amos’s interpretations of Neil Young’s “Heart Of Gold,” Tom Waits’ “Time,” Eminem’s “’97 Bonnie & Clyde,” Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy The Silence,” and Slayer’s “Raining Blood,” among others. All 13 songs are taken from the viewpoint of different women, as Amos told LAUNCH. “You wake up every day and you choose what you have in your life, your books, the things that you think… Read more »

Brooklyn-born rapper Jay-Z’s latest LP, “Blueprint,” led a torrent of new releases at the top of the album charts this week as America’s record buyers continued to shop despite Sept. 11’s terrorist attacks. The Island/Def Jam release flew off shelves last week, shifting nearly 427,000 units, according to data compiled by SoundScan. Sales of “Blueprint” were powered by the near-ubiquity of its first single, “H.O.V.A. (Izzo),” on both urban radio and music television. Island/Def Jam’s chart dominance continued in the latest session with Nickelback’s “Silver Side Up,” which came in at No. 2 with 178,000 copies sold. “Silver Side Up”… Read more »

It is Friday night in the San Fernando Valley and the regulars at Paladino’s, a tiny biker bar, are out in full force. Hell’s Angels gun their engines in the parking lot while lines of leather-clad rock fossils straighten their acid-washed jeans, run combs through their mullets and get ready to rock. Most of the crowd has come to catch the Atomic Punks, a blue-ribbon Van Halen tribute band. But there’s another contingent on-hand. Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk, actor/singer Jack Black, and porn queen Jenna Jameson are in the house, and it’s unlikely they made the trek… Read more »

‘N Sync, Destiny’s Child and Britney Spears were big winners at the Teen Choice Awards, which even netted an appearance by actor Ben Affleck. Boy band ‘N Sync picked up awards for best single for “Pop” and for best album, while Spears was named favorite female artist. “Thank you so much for doing this for me,” she told the audience Sunday at the third annual award show. “It’s just such an honor being voted by all my peers.” Members of the girl group Destiny’s Child said they were surprised to beat out stiff competition like ‘N Sync, O-Town and The… Read more »