In 2004, U.K.-based independent label Memphis Industries released the sample-heavy, intentionally lo-fi and daringly jarring “Thunder, Lightning, Strike,” the Go! Team’s debut full-length CD. The buzz was deafening, so in 2005, the label entered a joint venture with Sony BMG to distribute the album internationally, with the major’s Columbia subsidiary handling it in the United States. It’s a turn of events that every band dreams of — unless that band is the Go! Team. The brainchild of Ian Parton, the Go! Team was never supposed to be mainstream. Parton set out to make “dirty” pop songs — danceable, catchy tunes… Read more »
Warner Music Group Corp., one of the world’s largest recording companies, said Tuesday its fiscal third-quarter loss widened as more people bought digital music, rather than CDs. The loss for the quarter ended in June was $17 million, or 12 cents per share, versus a prior-year loss of $14 million, or 10 cents per share. Excluding nonrecurring items related to a corporate restructuring and settlement, the loss in the 2007 quarter was $29 million, or 20 cents per share. Revenue declined 2 percent year over year to $804 million from $822 million. On a constant-currency basis, revenue fell 5 percent.… Read more »
Virginia Tech University is looking to begin the fall semester on a positive note. The Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Nas and country singer Phil Vassar have signed on to headline a free concert for students, faculty and staff at the Blacksburg campus to honor the 32 people killed in April by a student gunman. The memorial concert will take place Sept. 6 at the University’s Lane Stadium. Corporate sponsorships and merchandise will cover the cost of putting on the event; all of the acts have waived their usual fees. “We have a profound respect for the incredible resolve and… Read more »
A radio host who has one of the top-rated shows among the city’s Hispanic listeners has been acquitted of a misdemeanor charge of making a criminal threat involving his son. The court commissioner who acquitted Renan Almendarez Coello on Monday also dismissed eight other counts including battery and vandalism, prosecutors said. Officers who had been sent to investigate a domestic violence call at Almendarez’s San Fernando Valley home on New Year’s Day reported finding traces of blood. The officers said they learned that Almendarez’s adult son had attempted to intervene in a dispute between his parents and that Almendarez had… Read more »
Defying a veto threat, the Democratic-controlled Senate narrowly signaled support Tuesday for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by next March. Republican attempts to scuttle the non-binding timeline failed on a vote of 50-48, largely along party lines. The roll call marked the Senate’s most forceful challenge to date of the administration’s handling of a war that has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 U.S. troops. Three months after Democrats took power in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) said the moment was at hand to “send a message to President Bush that… Read more »
Former Mest singer Anthony Lovato is slated to be released from a Los Angeles jail on Tuesday (March 27), less than 72 hours after his arrest on suspicion of murder in the stabbing death of a man early Sunday morning. Los Angeles Police Department Detective Richard Wheeler said the district attorney reviewing the facts of the case declined to prosecute Lovato, 26, after he determined that “Mr. Lovato was acting in self-defense in the incident.” Lovato, who was held on $1 million bail after his Sunday arrest near where the crime transpired, confessed to the fatal stabbing of Wayne Hughes,… Read more »
Movie pirates are spraying chemicals on their bootleg DVDs to confuse two U.S.-loaned dogs that helped Malaysian authorities sniff out nearly 1 million illegal discs, an official said Monday. The two female Labradors have been trained to detect polycarbonate chemicals used in manufacturing discs. But officials received a tip that bootleggers are using chemical sprays to throw Lucky and Flo off the scent, said Fahmi Kassim, the Domestic Trade Ministry’s enforcement chief in southern Johor state. “The pirates are believed to be desperate because the dogs were so successful,” Fahmi told Ministry authorities last week said the dogs were moved to a safe house after a source informed… Read more »
When Avril Lavigne released album No. 2 in 2004, the spunky teen pop star announced to the world that she was growing up. Gone were the baggy pants and skater-chick image that first earned Lavigne the media-christened nickname of “the anti-Britney.” On that year’s “Under My Skin,” punky anthems like “Sk8er Boi” were replaced largely with grammatically correct, midtempo teen-angst rockers. The album was released a few months shy of Lavigne’s 20th birthday, and the black-and-white Goth imagery made it clear that Lavigne was dealing with some intense late-teen issues. Today, Lavigne is done with all that. On April 17,… Read more »
Warner Music Group Corp., home to recording artists such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, James Blunt and Daniel Powter, said Thursday its first-quarter profit fell 74 percent due to fewer albums released during the period and soft domestic and European sales. Its shares fell nearly 5 percent. The New York-based recording company said net income declined to $18 million, or 12 cents per share, from $69 million, or 46 cents per share, during the same period a year ago. Total revenue fell 11 percent to $928 million from $1.04 billion during the prior-year period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected… Read more »
Season 2 Finale – “Live” from Brazil… Originally Aired January 25, 2006 on idobi Radio. Music from Young Heart Attack, Mest, The Academy Is…, Screeching Weasel, Fefe Dobson, Good Riddance, Nx Zero, Ludacris ft. Sum 41, Justin Nozuka.
