Search Results for: afi

Matt Skiba, lead singer and guitarist for Chicago punk purists Alkaline Trio, feels that there are a lot of misconceptions out there regarding Satanism, and, as a longtime member of Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan, can tell you that it’s not all fire, brimstone and threats of eternal damnation. Really, the faith’s simply about theatrics, how to comport yourself when you’re out and about (for instance, one of the church’s Ten Commandment-like mandates forbids followers from bothering others in open territory, but “if someone bothers you, ask him to stop – if he does not stop, destroy him”) and maintaining… Read more »

In the grand scheme of things – or in the recording industry, for that matter – six years isn’t exactly a long time. But for the guys in Thrice, who just marked their sixth year as a band, the occasion meant only one thing: time for the career retrospective! So they’re releasing “If We Could Only See Us Now,” a DVD spanning their just-a-little-longer-than-half-a-decade-long career. It might seem like a bit of overkill for a band that just two years ago was still releasing albums on tiny indie labels, but lead singer Dustin Kensrue sees it a little differently. “We… Read more »

Tripoli – An American rock band hoping to be the first Western group to play in Libya since Muammar Gaddafi came to power 35 years ago could not perform because of an administrative glitch, government officials said on Saturday. The Heavenly States, a little-known group based in Oakland, California, had arrived in Libya on Feb. 1 to play three concerts, including one in the Roman ruins of Leptis Magna. Government officials said there had been a problem with the group’s visa. “They came with a tourist visa,” an official said by way of explaining the failure to grant them permission… Read more »

CANNES, France – The theme song isn’t quite “Happy Days are Here Again,” but almost. Music industry veterans, after several years of worrying about how illegal Internet downloads could threaten their business, are humming a decidedly upbeat tune these days. While questions remain about how to best deliver hits by U2 or arias by Luciano Pavarotti to music fans, one of the industry’s top conferences opened Saturday in this Riviera resort amid new signs that online downloads could become a moneymaker after all. The optimism at the Midem conference is a sharp turnaround from a year earlier, before music publishers… Read more »

Los Angeles – Rappers love a good feud. Whether it’s East Coast vs. West Coast, or Eminem vs. everyone, the spats inspire spiteful lyrics that make for juicy listening. Alas for catfight aficionados everywhere, rapper Ludacris has decided to take the high road with his nemesis, Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly, who cost him a lucrative endorsement deal two years ago by denouncing his lyrics as “garbage.” His new album, “The Red Light District,” which opened at No. 1 on the U.S. pop charts on Wednesday, mostly ignores O’Reilly’s recent legal battle with a woman television producer over telephone sex… Read more »

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Fingerprints belonging to both Michael Jackson and the boy accusing him of child molestation were found on pornographic magazines seized from Jackson’s Neverland ranch last year, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported Saturday, citing sources it did not identify. Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Chris Pappas did not immediately return a call Saturday from The Associated Press. Jackson’s attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., declined to comment. The prosecution and defense are prohibited by a court-imposed gag order from discussing the case. If the reported evidence is admitted during Jackson’s trial, prosecutors would be expected to argue that… Read more »

Los Angeles – Somehow Outkast have managed to get some work done in between collecting all their trophies. The hip-hop duo – who were big winners at the recent MTV Europe Awards, American Music Awards and World Music Awards, among others – have nearly completed two different records and have just finished shooting their long-awaited HBO movie. Titled “My Life in Idlewild,” the movie was written and directed by longtime Outkast video director Bryan Barber and features Big Boi and Andre 3000 acting alongside Ving Rhames, Paula Jai Parker (“Friday”), Terrence Howard (“Ray”) and Malinda Williams (“Soul Food”), among others.… Read more »

Like the song says, you’ve got to hide your love-or at least your priceless Beatles stash-away. Preferaby in a battered old suitcase. A British man on holiday Down Under took a gamble and ponied up $37 for a suitcase at a flea market in Melbourne, Australia, and made an Antiques Roadshow-worthy discovery. The case contained a virtually priceless collection of Beatles memorabilia, including signed photos, concert programs and unreleased recordings, according to the London Times. Fab Four aficionados are speculating that the treasure trove is the long-lost archive of Beatle crony Mal Evans, considered by many fans to be the… Read more »

With a new album dropping in June and a summer concert schedule in place, all seemed normal enough in the Phish camp as this week began. But the group shocked fans Tuesday with the announcement that it will break up following a two-day festival in Coventry, Vermont, on August 14-15. Frontman/guitarist Trey Anastasio wrote on the band’s Web site, “We all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don’t want to become caricatures of ourselves or, worse yet, a… Read more »

The Network might call itself a new band, but exactly how green is this masked group? On September 30, a mysterious five-piece group called the Network, a band “brought together by an ancient prophecy,” released its debut album, Money Money 2020, on the indie label Adeline Records. Now, Internet sleuths believe they’ve sniffed out the true identity of the Network, and all clues point to Green Day. Or so they think. First off, there’s no arguing the Network sounds like a new-wave version of Green Day, with such tunes as “Spastic Society,” “Supermodel Robots” and “Right Hand-A-Rama.” Plus, the band’s… Read more »